Ashes
by Kurenai0111
Summary: Fire is such a powerful thing. Whether it's someone or something that's on its path, it will destroy it without even an ounce of pity. And anyone trying to reform whatever it was before will struggle, to say the least. Because once burnt, it's not something anymore. It's not someone either. Only ashes.
1. Chapter 1

**Guys... Just... Noragami's last chapter broke my heart. Yukine, my poor baby... And Yato... (cries for about a thousand years)**

**Ahem.**

**Like, seriously. Please read it. I needed to vent my frustration and tears, so I wrote this XD And I hope you will not get enough of reading the word ashes, because I'm going to write this a lot XD**

* * *

It all begun with heat.

An intense, suffocating heat along with a strangely strong smell of ashes.

Fresh soot came down from the burning roof to dust the sleeping shinki's nose. He let out a tiny sneeze when it started to tickle before shifting on his side with a groan, oblivious to what was going on. He wondered with annoyance if Yato had left the window open again, and it was this hazy thought made him finally open his orange, bleary eyes.

Yato never left the window open when they slept.

He sat up sluggishly and rubbed his eyes with the back of one wrist to see what was happening. Hot, blistering red flames were _everywhere_, destroying the wooden floor and threatening to bring the roof down on the duo while thick clouds of dark, suffocating smoke turned the air into something toxic and murderous.

Yato winced in his sleep at Yukine's increasing distress and moaned something that he hoped had reassured him before shifting to his side. Today had been a rough, long day, and if Yukine was that scared of a nightmare then he could always come and cuddle with him. He didn't mind.

"_Yato, wake up_!"

He groaned once again. "Yukine... What is it?" He had expected a timid, embarrassed answer, but it was a deafening, terrified cry that made his eyes pop open. He immediately understood why Yukine had sounded so scared just now. The fire had almost consumed everything; nothing was recognizable anymore.

_"It's burning, Yato!"_

He turned towards Yukine just in time to hear the floor _crack_ beneath him with a sickening, dry sound. Both Yato and Yukine's eyes widened, dreading what would happen the next second. Yukine let out a terrified cry as his body fell and plummeted downstairs, burning flames threatening to burn him whole.

Unbridled horror harshly swept sleep's cobwebs away from his mind as he scrambled to his clumsy feet to go find him. His heart was already beating insanely fast - Yukine had fallen, he had _fallen_, he was surely hurt or burned or _worse_ \- but it was nothing compared to when he heard something loud crash downstairs. The heart in the god's chest just stopped beating, but at this instant he didn't know if it was his half or his shinki's that had stopped.

He took his sweaty jersey off to cover his mouth and nose with it and ran, ran without caring about the cinders falling from above that could set his clothes on fire or the hot floor reddening the palm of his bare feet or the huge beams that were randomly falling that could crush him alive in an instant.

He refused to evacuate this burning house before he found this kid.

Logically, judging from where he was before, and if he hadn't moved, then Yukine should be somewhere in the kitchen. The best-case scenario would be that he had landed on the floor or on something soft, but fate had always been cruel towards the boy. He was surely hurt.

Once he was done descending what was left of the stairs, he directly headed towards the kitchen, squinting his eyes as he looked out for, he hoped, his kid unconscious form among the flames.

But overexposure to smoke was starting to make him light-headed and sluggish; he knew he was running out of time. He called his name again and again despite the coughs shaking his body and the deadly heat threating to make him melt, and stopped mid-word when the cruel flames finally moved aside to let him get a peek at a tuft of dirty blonde hair a few metres away from him.

He let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding all this time. Flames didn't look like they had reached him, at least not yet. Yukine was covered in a thick layer of black ashes and grime and unmoving, but he looked like he was unharmed. That couldn't be the case, though. He had fallen through a _floor_.

He dashed towards him like his life was depending on it, but his mad dash came to an abrupt halt when he caught sight of the large, burning kitchen's fridge that was completely crushing his left foot. So it was the sound of earlier, the sound of something heavy falling downstairs.

He desperately wanted to, but knew that he didn't have enough strength left to move it. He closed his eyes in a silent apology and took a long, deep intake of healthy air through his jersey. Then he held his breath and started yanking his kid out of there with all the strength he had left. Even if he didn't make it, Yukine _had_ to live. As his master, he couldn't let him die another time, and even less because of him.

The unconscious child stayed still as a corpse during the whole operation, and Yato didn't know if he had to find relief in that or if he had to seriously worry about his lack of responsiveness. After a good five minutes of grunting and pulling him hard, Yukine's pinned foot was finally freed.

His heart sank. The sweltering heat was making it difficult to see in front of him, but the poor child's foot had been completely destroyed by the fridge's fall on it. There were pieces of broken, bleeding bones poking out of his bruised purple skin. It looked absolutely _awful_, and Yato dreaded to think that it may be too broken to be repaired.

Air was downright irrespirable now, choking him and burning his lungs like fire was directly being shoved down his throat. He felt like he was _drying_ in this intense heat, but his suffering certainly paled in front of Yukine's suffering. He wasn't even conscious, and surely couldn't breathe in the heat either.

Yukine might be in serious danger.

A huge, burning wooden beam froze him by crashing a few centimetres away from his face. His eyes were riveted on the burning pillar, but when he _finally_ snapped out of his daze – why did he lose time looking at _this_, he didn't have _time_, and Yukine even less - and looked up, he realized that the floor upstairs had been entirely burnt.

It let him stare with horror at the shaking, burning beams that composed the roof threatening to destroy the both of them at any minute. Ashes and cinders, as well as burning screws and nails started falling around him when wood wasn't blocking them anymore. His heart swelled with dread as reality struck him with full force. This building wouldn't last ten seconds more.

As he frantically searched for a way out for the both of them, his eyes caught sight of a hole with burnt borders in a wall near him. He threw Yukine out of the burning house without thinking twice about it. Although it was a desperate movement, he threw him gently enough so that his strength wouldn't send him slam against the garden's wooden fence and worsen his injuries. Yukine only rolled a few metres in the soft grass before coming to a stop, stiff and cold despite the inferno next to him.

Yato let out a small puff of relief when he saw Yukine was safe and sound outside. He forced his burned legs to bear his weight, just a little longer, just so that he could go out and save Yukine, but that's when the rest of the burning house caved.

Only his scream of agony rang in the black night.

* * *

Hiyori tuned out the bickering between her two friends, Yama and Ami, to frown at the unexpected deluge of messages and called she had received on her phone. Sixteen messages and twelve missed calls, all coming from Daikoku's phone. Usually it was Yato who harassed her until she got fed up of him. Maybe something had happened?

She tapped on her screen to call the number back and put the telephone to her ear. "How can you say that Hyakki-sama isn't the most beautiful person you ever saw?! He is just... come on, look at _him_! He is perfect!"

"I _saw_," grumbled Ami, pushing the picture that Yama was shoving in her face away. "Geez. You showed me this picture at least a _thousand_ times. And I'm not even exaggerating."

"You can't ever get tired of seeing his face," grinned the high-school student. "I love him so much! He is famous, and smart, and rich, and totally _handsome_!"

Hiyori's bag fell to the floor. "How are they?"

Both girls turned their heads towards Hiyori, startled by the sudden silence in her voice. She looked a few seconds away from passing out, her face was ashen and her fingers trembling so much it was a true miracle the phone still held in her hand. They both gasped before lowering the fragile girl to the ground, wet by the earlier rain.

_"Hiyori?!"_

"Hiyori, calm down! What's wrong?!"

"Is he... God, i-is he... Is he _a_-_alive_...?" sobbed the young girl, and both students at her sides paled, wondering if they had heard right.

They both waited for her call to end without daring to speak. After the adult, low voice coming out of the phone was done answering her questions, they opened their mouth in sync to ask her what happened, but Hiyori dissolved into sobs.

They had _never_ seen her in such a state. It didn't look like she had any control on her tears. She had tried to regain her composure and wipe her eyes several times, in vain. "H-Hiyori, what happened?"

Ami gently pressed her palm on her back. "Hiyori, listen to me. We will tell the profs you won't be there today, and we will also call your parents so that they don't worry about you not being at school. Focus on what's important, and go to the hospital, okay? Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

Hiyori nodded and mumbled something like a thank you to her friends before scrambling to her feet and running through the open school gates. She tuned everything out, the yells of people ordering her to stop running without looking where she went and the questions that some students asked her upon seeing her teary, sticky face.

The way to the hospital was a blur. There were grey streets, a handful of colourful cars and her heartbeat reverberating in her whole exhausted body before she arrived in front of the closed doors of her parents' hospital. Her throat burned and her knees were weak, but she gathered the rest of her energy to make a last dash to Yukine's hospital room.

Daikoku turned his head towards her when she yanked the door open, but Yukine didn't. He was still laid on his back in his bed. His heartbeat was steady, although slow, but his breathing was so shallow that she thought he wasn't breathing at all.

Daikoku caught her before she fell to her knees. "Hiyori-chan, breathe. Don't worry, he is okay. He _is_ breathing."

"D-Daikoku-san..." She threw her arms around his neck to weep on his shoulder.

"Hey kid, save your breath," chuckled the older shinki. "Don't worry. It will take more than a mere fire to get any of us."

Daikoku spent a few minutes more murmuring calming words to the panicked young girl, hoping that she would stop crying. Hiyori was eventually led to a chair, where she tried to get herself back together. "I'm not going to lie to you; his body is barely holding on. Many of his ribs are severely bruised, and some of them even broke. You see him breathing shallowly, but any deeper breath would hurt him."

"I... I see..."

"He got a few burns on his arms too, but it's nothing that can't be healed. The docs already took care of that." He let out a sigh. "The worst is definitely his foot."

"His foot?" repeated the girl, her face turning a little bit green.

"He went through surgery." Daikoku eyed Yukine's thick white cast around his foot. "But he needs more than just the one they gave him. You see it in a cast right now, but they said that they hadn't even solved a quarter of the damn problem. All his bones got _crushed_." Hiyori shivered. "Completely crushed... u-u-under that damned fridge..."

Daikoku trailed off as violent, wet coughs twisted his upper body in strange positions, and Hiyori alighted on the fact that _he_ was far from being okay too, even if he was the only one awake. His right hand, palm and back, was entirely burned, and she could see another bad-looking scar creeping out of his collar up to his chin.

She awkwardly patted his back. "Are you okay?! Maybe you left your bed too-"

"What, too soon? Please. I'm not a kid, Hiyori-chan. I told you I was okay. It's just smoke that messed my lungs up." He led her back to her seat, and pure ire passed in his eyes as he looked at Yukine. "If you want to worry about someone so much, then fuss over Yukine and Yato when they wake up, or over my goddess when she will finally open her eyes."

"Kofuku-san hasn't woken up yet? You... You told me that Yato and Yukine got injured, but you never mentioned Kofuku-san was hurt."

"She wasn't. She only got a few scrapes and she barely even inhaled smoke, but she hasn't woken up despite being the less injured out of us four and it's freaking me out." He blew a worried sigh. "I hope they will find what is going on with her soon."

He took a few gulps of water while Hiyori stared pensively at him. He looked terribly worried, more than anything she had ever seen. "They will," she mumbled, hoping she sounded more reassuring than she felt. Her teary eyes returned to her lap, and clenched the fabric of her skirt so tight that her knuckles were white. "She has to survive. You all have to survive this, all of you, otherwise I... I..."

One of Yukine's monitor cut their conversation with a shrill, high-pitched sound that sounded like it wouldn't ever end. The boy's breathing, trapped under a tiny mask, was fast and erratic, matching the rhythm of his heartbeat. His eyes were opened so wide that it would be surprising it didn't hurt, and he darted nervous glances in the room.

Hiyori stood up and took one of his hands in hers, and alarmed, teary orange eyes met solemn lilac ones. "Yukine-kun! Listen to me. The fire is over now, y-you're safe at the hospital. And you're not alone. Daikoku-san and I are awake and here for you." He blinked at her with barely furrowed brows, tears slipping free from his eyes to roll down his cheeks.

Minutes of her low, soothing words finally succeeded in appeasing Yukine's panic, leaving an exhausted and confused shinki on a hospital bed. He looked like he was barely managing to keep consciousness, and it was a heart-breaking sight.

He stared at her blankly and opened his mouth, intending to make some words leave it, a question if he could, but instead only a trail of dark blood left it. "Yukine, don't speak!" cried Daikoku. He knelt next to the boy. "Please, listen to me. You're suffering enough as it is, so... _Ugh._ What do you want to know? Do you want to know if we're all okay?"

He nodded slowly, almost imperceptibly. "Okay then. I will tell you. Kofuku and I are okay. More scare than hurt. Yato, he... I'm sorry. I guess you want to see him, but he isn't awake right now. He got some nasty burns... Really nasty, ugly burns. And many wounds too. He won't wake up now, but he will. We have to believe in him."

Yukine didn't seem really calmed by that. Daikoku was glad that, at least, he was lucid enough to know that the older shinki was withholding informations from him. It wasn't late before his eyelids fluttered shut as he fell back into unconsciousness. Pity tightened Daikoku's heart. "He fainted... Poor kid. I swear to you that I will find the bastard who did this."

"What do you mean?" asked Hiyori with a frown. "Wasn't this fire an accident?"

"No way it was an accident, Hiyori-chan," he cut, anger burning bright in his eyes again. "It is someone's work. I always check before going to sleep that everything is turned off, except Yukine's lamp. Not only nothing that could burn was on this night, but there is absolutely _nothing_ in this house that could have burned it whole."

A weight settled in Hiyori's stomach. "It's _impossible_ that it just happened by chance. Someone tried to murder the four of us this night, and I intend to find and utterly destroy the bastard who did that. He will regret putting us in danger, that's for sure."

"But who could it be?" breathed Hiyori, horrified by this idea. "I-It must have been another god, or a shinki in Takamagahara. I... I can conceive that Yato isn't very much loved, but to go _that_ far..."

Her first guess was Fujisaki. He was Yato's creator, a mad man who kept repeating that _his_ Yaboku was made to murder and destroy, and maybe he had decided to use this fire to show him this again. He could've had access to Takamagahara through shinki, and was mad enough to do something so drastic. He had often targeted her and Yukine, but she wouldn't ever have thought that he could do something so terrible...

She would confront him on Monday at school and get to the bottom of this. As Daikoku had said, whoever had done this wouldn't get away with their crime.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiyori looked at the dirty ruin that her friends' house had become, dismayed.

What Daikoku had said was confirmed now; there was no way that it was just an accident. The fire had been perfectly calculated to take all four by surprise in the middle of the night. _Nothing_ had been spared. What was once a joyous, happy house was now just a pitiful pile of cold ashes, ready to disappear at each whistle of wind. What a sad sight.

"Iki-san? What are you doing here?"

She smiled a little bit sadly at the approaching shinki and his master before her pensive, sad gaze returned to the ruins in front of her. "Hello, Kazuma-san. I... I just can't believe everything disappeared like that. I suppose I had to see for myself. It must have been terrifying to live that."

"The heavens have already started their researches," informed Bishamon. "They already have a few hypotheses about who it could be, but I hope they can confirm who it will be soon."

A silence passed. "Did you think about visiting them, Bishamon-sama? I'm sure it would please them very much."

"What do you mean by _think_ about it? We _did _visit them earlier," answered Kazuma with an arched eyebrow, wondering why she had asked such a thing. Did she really think that they were so heartless? "News spread quickly in Takamagahara, especially such grave ones. I know Ebisu-sama and his shinki came before us, and Ookuninushi-sama said that he would go visit later today. Kofuku-sama is one of his friends, after all."

"The idiot... He was barely breathing, even with that stupid mask on his face," she continued, her voice shaking a little bit. "He always looks pathetic, but this time, he... He could have died protecting his shinki like this. He is an idiot, really." She bit her lip, reluctant to voice that thought. "I hope he will wake up soon. It's getting really painful seeing him like this."

"Yes, it is," agreed silently Hiyori. All three stared at the ashes in silence.

Yato would have certainly been touched to know how concerned people were about him, were he awake. He, who keeps thinking that the whole world hated him for what he was and that he wouldn't ever be accepted by anyone. A small frown appeared between her brows when she remembered a detail of their conversation. "Bishamon-sama? You said that the Heavens had a few hypotheses about the fire's origin..."

"Hm? Oh. Well, at this point, absolutely nothing is certain, but I suppose I can tell you. They said..." She frowned a little.

"They said that the fire had surely been started by a shinki's spell."

* * *

She spent the rest of the day in Yukine's room when Daikoku was called back to his, pondering her earlier conversation with the goddess of war.

The investigation had only begun, but she had a gut feeling that Yato's father was the one responsible for this. It was his fault someting bad happened nine times out of ten, anyway. The possibility that it might have been caused by a shinki didn't rule him out, since he had his Mizuchi and surely a few other shinki that could do it for him. Maybe Nora had asked one of her masters to bring her to Takamagahara this night?

She grumbled in annoyance. She really needed to see Fujisaki and clarify things with him.

"A-All my apologies miss, but v-visiting hours are over," stuttered a nurse. "We need to... ah, to run a few more tests on Yukine-san, and... um..."

She smiled at the confused nurse. "Alright... It's okay, I was about to leave right now." She hesitated but bowed to deposit a quick kiss on the boy's forehead, a wish of quick recovery. "I will be back tomorrow, okay? Try to get better by then, Yukine-kun."

Night had fallen now, and she closed her vest up to the last button before heading home.

What a horrible day today had been. Thankfully, she had a full week-end in front of her to find out what had happened to that house, and for her to prepare herself for a confrontation with Yato's creator. Yukine and Yato had both been seriously hurt, and she was literally going to do _everything_ in her power to find the culprit.

She already hated him since that first kiss he had stolen her at the parade, but Fujisaki had really crossed the line this time.

* * *

_It was burning everywhere around him. He was still pinned under that fridge, but this time he was conscious and the weight crushing his feet was making him yell in agony. He didn't want to try to get free anymore, otherwise he feared his foot would just be ripped off his leg._

_Maybe he would just stay there until fire left nothing but ashes of his body._

_"Yukine!" Two shocked blue eyes stared at him. He didn't hear Yato's footsteps over the roaring flames, but seeing him come closer to save him was as reassuring as hearing them. "Hold on, I'm coming!"_

_It was hard not to yell his pain, but he gritted his teeth and hang on because Yato was coming to save him. The god tiptoed around the flames, and soon enough he was knelt next to Yukine. His eyes were solemn, and maybe a little bit angry, but Yukine felt that this rage wasn't directed at him. "Take my hand," he promised. "I will get you out of there."_

_Yukine weakly reached out for Yato's hand, but the extended hand suddenly fell as a huge beam fell down on the god. He heard the sickening crunch of bones as his vertebral column was broken to pieces, and a strangled cough as blood came out of Yato's lips._

_Yukine dropped his hand and screamed._

* * *

"Are you feeling better now, Yukine-san?" tried a nurse with fuzzy blonde curls. He wondered a second _how_ she could make her hair look fuzzy when something cold and wet being wiped on his sweaty forehead. He abandoned that train of thought to let out a small, soundless sigh of relief at this. "You were having a nightmare. We increased the quantity of, uh... we gave you something not to feel in too much pain, do you feel like it's working? Or do you need more? Please answer honestly."

His foot _hurt_. A fast-paced throb was running through his nerves, making his foot ache something terrible. He was almost sure he could see blood all over his white cast, his skin black and charred, and pieces of broken bones between his toes that had cut up skin and muscles alike to arrive there.

He weakly shook his head from side to side.

The woman looked sympathetic and held his hand while ordering another nurse to add something in his IV bag. "The medicine should start acting soon, normally." She chewed the inside of her cheek before grinning at him. "We will take good care of you, promise. You will be out of there before you know it, so stay calm and trust us. We are here to help you, Yukine-san."

Yukine's eyebrows furrowed when her words became more and more distorted and silent. He barely even had time to realize that she had been making small talk to give him something to focus on other than the pain all this time that his eyes closed, and his breathing evened out.

When he woke up again this night, it wasn't because he was in pain or anything like that. No, it was because there was a rough hand that kept dragging its big fingers through his hair. He wouldn't have minded normally, and may have found the touch soothing, but this hand was _really_ annoying.

He peeled one of his eyelids open, and a shiver ran down his spine when he saw how dark it was. He might have whimpered something, and the person immediately stopped their combing to switch the light on. "Sorry not to have switched the lights on earlier," apologized the voice. "It must have been scary to see this big, dark figure touching you."

He winced at the harsh influx of light suddenly poured in his eyes and closed his eyelids in reflex. When the mild throbbing in his head ceased and that light decided to stop blinding him in favour of showing him his surroundings, he saw who was there with him.

A stab of uneasiness struck him, but he didn't know why. The man wasn't a nurse, if the striped red shirt and the pair of worn-out jeans were anything to go by. He also was there despite the visiting hours being over, but it wasn't what was making him ill at ease the most.

What struck him is that they looked terribly alike, like the man was another version of him, had he lived longer. His face was wrinkled and old, and there was a thick, white bandage wrapped around his head, but they shared the same blonde hair, the same nose, and their eyes were absolutely _identical_. He looked like a strange reflection in a distorted mirror. "Who are you?" he rasped, although he guessed he already knew the answer.

The man couldn't seem to find his words. Yukine's eyes widened when he saw a tear roll down the stranger's cheek. "I... Gosh, I'm sorry. My tears just c-can't seem to stop..."

_"Open! Let me _out_! Please, Dad! I-I'm begging you!"_

His heartbeat spiked when he opened his mouth once again. "I'm... I'm so glad to see you again, Yukine. I missed you." Yukine tensed – how did he know his name? - but stayed silent as he waited for the man to continue, his heart hammering with full force in his bruised ribcage. "I... I... I'm barely out of the hospital myself, and... I've been told my son is there. I needed to see you."

"Your... son?"

"Yes..." He sniffled and wiped his eyes. "I-I'm your father. Don't you remember me? I know it has been a long time, but I... I haven't seen you since your mother tried to kill you. I... Yukine, I-"

"Please calm down," he tried, even if both the man and the situation were scaring him. "Try... Try calming down first, and after y-you can tell me what happened."

"It was... It was your mother," he said through gritted teeth as a new wave of fresh tears ran down his face. "She is insane... She is _mad_. She is the reason I'm ended up here. She struck me on the head during one of our fights, and I ended up here... I... You know, I couldn't remember anything when I woke up. But when I heard a doctor say your name... I... I _knew_ it was you. It couldn't be anyone else than _you_. I had to see you again, son..."

"I'll never apologize enough for all the pain I made you go through. You must have been terrified... I made the mistake of letting you with her just a moment, and when I came back... _Gods_, she told me I wouldn't ever see you again, and that you were dead! How could a mother do such a thing to her child...? How could I have let this happen to my son?!"

He was sobbing at full force now, and Yukine didn't know what to make of that since his own mind was so full of questions. So this man was really his father? And it actually was his mother who had murdered him? _Why_? What had he done wrong? Why had she done that to her own son, to the child that she had carried during nine months? If she was the culprit, then why did his father's face keep appearing in all his nightmares?

"Where... Where is she now...?"

"In prison, Yukine. Where else would you want her to be? She tried to murder her _son_. _My_ son. She used to do whatever she wanted to with me before I asked for a divorce, but she stepped across the line when she hurt you."

Yukine blinked at him owlishly, and his father's reddened eyes softened. "Ah, of course you're confused. You're not even out of the hospital yet, a-and I came to bother you with our family matters! I-I'm sorry for that, kiddo. Rest now, I promise I will come and visit you later. And we can always talk then, okay?"

_"Don't leave me in there! It's dark! Dad! **Dad!**"_

He gave him a slow nod and closed his sleepy eyes. He definitely needed to ask this man more questions.

* * *

Daikoku woke up to a flurry of frantic nurses and doctors hurrying in and out of Yato's bedroom, their faces as white as their gown. His dulled hearing only picked up a few of their exclamations, but what he heard was more than enough to make him pale several shades. "How could his condition have worsened this much overnight?!"

"We don't have time to worry about this! Restrain him before he hurts himself!"

"I-I'm trying...!"

"Damn, he is sweating bullets..."

"Hurry up, he is going in shock! What have you been giving him?!"

Daikoku slammed the door shut and put his head in his hands. It was _way_, way too early to be hearing such things.

He already knew _nothing_ was alright now, so no one needed to shove it at his face again. Yukine could barely stay conscious for more than a few minutes, and Yato's body got crushed and burned under these pillars. He hated being the only one awake, the only one who had to watch over everyone.

Someone knocked on the now closed door, and a voice called him. "Daikoku-san, are you awake?"

He used an instant to get his grief and anger back under control and sighed a feeble, "Yeah. You can come in." It was probably another nurse checking on his goddess this morning. He just hoped they would be quick.

It took Yukine more efforts than it had any right to have, but delight washed over the older shinki when he saw his frail silhouette push the door wide open. "Oh Yukine! You've been discharged already?"

He shook his head and limped, using his crutches as a support, to collapse on a chair next to Daikoku. "I... I came here as soon as the nurses all left my room. I couldn't sleep, and I had hoped you would be awake..."

A thin sheet of sweat was shining on his forehead, and his harsh, panting made Daikoku pull a grimace of worry. That's when the latter remembered that he was barely a kid, that his foot was probably a lost cause and surely wouldn't _ever _heal and must put him in indescriptible agony, that he fell through a floor to land flat on his ribcage.

"You..." He wet his lips and bit the lower one. "Maybe you should go back to bed, you know. Breathing this hard must be painful, and that damned fire did a number on you."

"I'm not tired, Daikoku-san. More importantly, there were nurses earlier talking about Yato..." He gulped hard, the sound audible in the silent room. "D-Daikoku-san, Yato... He is going to live, right? After all, h-he repeated me that only Ayakashi and shinki can kill gods. So if the fire wasn't caused by e-either, then Yato shouldn't normally-"

"Yukine," he put an end to his rant by firmly placing his hands on his shoulders. "Calm down and stop panicking, because you're not doing yourself any favour. Yato's a fighter who has always survived _everything_ life threw at him, and he will do it again. Do you really think a fire could beat your god?"

"But what if he _never_ wakes up?!" he moaned, tears already springing to his eyes at the thought.

"He _will_ wake up," affirmed Daikoku. He was having a hard time convincing his mind of this fact, mainly because he had seen the state in which Yato's body was in, and he didn't look like he _could_ ever be healed, but he didn't want to scare Yukine. "Yukine, he will wake up. As his shinki and exemplar, the best thing you can do for him is to get better, otherwise he will worry sick about you too."

Both shinki stared at each other in silence before a muffled moan distracted them both. Daikoku felt a few tears of relief sting his eyes at the sight of his goddess moving for the first time since she had arrived there. Kofuku moaned again, and he gathered her up in his arms when he saw she was sobbing in her sleep. "T-Th-The f-f-fire... E-Everyone..."

"It's over now," he mumbled while petting her hair. "Don't worry about that fire. We are alive and safe at the hospital."

She sniffled several times but didn't break away from the hug. "What happened...? Who... What..."

"I think it's the work of some kind of arsonist," he answered in a low voice, oblivious to Yukine's growing unease. "Amaterasu-sama is already searching who it is. And I'm going to search who's responsible for this the second I'm out of the hospital myself too, I promise you. We will make them pay, definitely."

"_I-It's_ my fault, Daikoku... I... I..." He pressed her closer against him, feeling warm tears soak his shirt once again. "It's not your fault, Kofuku-san," mumbled Yukine. He had never seen her look so stressed. So distraught. "You couldn't have done something like this."

"Do you really think I'm innocent?! I'm a _binbougami_! I..." She started weeping again. "I-It has been a moment since I last provoked a disaster anyway... I n-never mean to h-hurt others, or s-scare them, but m-maybe I'm so unlucky that- that I'm the one created this fire! Maybe I'm the one who made all of you suffer so much!"

"Of course not!" snapped Daikoku, raising his voice on her for the first time. "Stop saying nonsense like that, Kofuku!"

"What do you know anyway, Daikoku?! Do you have any proof that it wasn't me?!"

"Don't fight," whined Yukine, tugging on his hair so harshly that it was surprising it hadn't torn. "Please, both of you... I-It's hard enough for all of us to be here without fighting." Something in the corner of his mind was telling him that this scene was familiar and that he had lived it before, but thinking about it was making his hurting head throb more. They had to stop fighting before he took his brain out of his skull himself.

"Yukine-san, this is where you were!" growled an annoyed nurse. Both shinki and goddess looked away from each other at her arrival. "Seriously, it's the third time you leave your room without being allowed to! Should we lock you up so that you stay put and take time to heal?!"

He apologized in a tired, small voice, and the nurse immediately felt bad for yelling at him this way. Even more with Daikoku shooting her the darkest look she had ever seen. "I-It's okay. Just, please, don't scare us by disappearing like that. There is someone who wants to visit you, so follow me. Do you think you can walk?" He nodded and let his grey, cold crutches carry him back to his room, away from his friends' warmth and reassuring presence.

His father was sat there, looking worried and nibbling his fingernails, but he visibly brightened when he saw his son on the doorstep. "Yukine, you're here! Why did you leave your bed if you're still convalescent?! I was worried when I didn't see you!" He let himself fall on his bed and panted, too tired to judge the truth in this stranger's statement.

"I really missed you, son." A pinched look troubled his features. "It... It doesn't bother you that I call you that, does it? I can just call you Yukine if you're uncomfortable."

"I would prefer that for now," he grumbled darkly, not bothering to hide the distrust on his face in the slightest. "You just barged in my room in the middle of the night even though it was forbidden to. You touched me without my agreement, and I have no way of knowing if you're really telling the truth. You could be lying and trying to use me for..."

He trailed off when he saw the photo on his father's phone. "I-Is it... me?"

The man frowned and looked at the phone he hadn't realized he hadn't switched off. "Oh!" He chuckled and came closer from the curious child. "Well, of course it's you. Come here, I can show you more pictures if you want."

Yukine's fear and suspicion mellowed out after each picture and each anecdote his father could tell him. He _couldn't_ be lying. Each of the smiles on the pictures were genuine and heartfelt, and his earlier tears couldn't be a fabrication either. They were reminders of something that had truly happened, something that _he_ had forgotten but that his father had kept close to him all this time.

Something warmed in his chest, it felt like... Like he had finally seen something hidden within him all this time. Eventually, after an hour of laughter and jokes, exhaustion finally got the best of him and he fell asleep, but it was the best sleep he had gotten ever since he had arrived in this hospital.

He couldn't wait for Yato to wake up so that he could tell him about it.


	3. Chapter 3

Daikoku had never once looked so severe. Well, not severe towards Kofuku, anyway. His arms were crossed and his usual unhappy face was even scarier with the fierce scowl on it. "Could you please explain me _what_ was that earlier?" he growled the second Yukine had been brought back to his room.

She brought her legs to her chest and looked away like a guilty child. "Nothing."

"Kofuku," he said gently, his features softening. _"Talk_ to me when something's wrong. You don't have to carry everything alone, you know? We can always talk when you're feeling lonely or sad. Know that... Really... Kofuku, it _breaks_ my heart to hear you saying such things. I mean it."

She looked up to her shinki. "Daikoku..."

"Kofuku, _talk_ to me. Please. What's wrong?"

She considered keeping silence, but Daikoku's silence was starting to make her light-headed. She let out a brittle laugh. "Pathetic, isn't it...? My own shinki has to protect me and reassure me when I'm sad. It has always been the case. Ever since I named you. With Daigo too..." Daikoku's lips tightened. "You're the one who called Yato-chan to save me. A-And now... you're the one who made me evacuate the house first."

She clenched the bed's blankets more and more as she spoke. "I'm your goddess, though...! I'm the one supposed to protect you and keep you safe, b-but it's always the other way around. I wish I was someone _normal, _who d-doesn't bring distaster and who can help more than just opening vents and making everything worse. O-Or who can go out freely without hurting people or destroying things. I... I'm sure I'm the one who... I'm nothing but a disaster! I'm just a thorn in your side..._"_

"Kofuku..." he murmured, his face pale at what he had heard.

Kofuku always looked so carefree and sunny, it was hard to think such worries had been weighting her. She had always shrugged off the catastrophes she caused with a goofy smile or a laugh, after all. He knew that she was surely thinking things like she should be someone else than what she was, or that maybe he wanted a better goddess, and it was not something he could let the most precious person to his eyes say.

"Listen," he started when he saw tears glisten in her eyes. "Kofuku, listen to me. I'm... Even if you're a... Even if you think you're a bad goddess, know that I never felt sad or unhappy with you. Not _once._ You're an unlucky and clumsy goddess, Kofuku, but you're _my_ unlucky, clumsy goddess, and I wouldn't ever trade you for any gods of fortune out there. I'm glad and proud that you're mine, and I know that everyone is glad to be your friend too. Don't sell yourself short, because you're greater than what you think."

"And gods aren't supposed to do everything alone. That's why guideposts and shinki are there with you." He smiled gently at her, hoping the gesture would be mirrored on her face too. "Don't overthink things. You're great the way you are, and that's exactly how we love you."

He took both of her hands in his. "Don't worry. I know you're stressed out. We are going to find who did this, okay? And then you will see it's not your fault and that you did nothing wrong."

Kofuku sniffled and intertwined her fingers with his. "You p-promise...?"

"Yeah," he laughed a little bit. "I promise you."

* * *

Hiyori had had enough time to collect herself during this week to go to school again. She had visited and talked with Yukine first, then Daikoku and Kofuku. During his whole discussion with the young shinki, she couldn't help but frown. He looked a lot happier, like he had just learned a great piece of news, but each time she asked him why he looked so glad he said that it was nothing. Well, he could always talk to her later.

"Hiyori!" waved cheerfully her two friends. She soon felt a pair of warm hands on each of her arms. "Are you okay? Are you sure you can go back to school now? Shouldn't have you waited a little bit longer?"

"Hiyori, what happened last time? You just... freaked out and started crying! Don't tell me someone in your family... Did someone die?"

"N-Not at all!" laughed the girl, genuinely touched by her friends' concern. "Sorry if I scared you. I... I just learnt that some friends got hurt... Very badly. But they're all going to pull through; I visited them this week-end."

"Is it that bad...?"

Images of burns, tears and cries sprung in Hiyori's head. She bit her lip and looked at something near her feet. "Yeah, it is. But I believe they will all pull through." She offered them a shaky smile, but none of them looked really relaxed. They nodded to each other. "Do you mind if we come visit them with you next time you go?"

"What? I-I don't mind, but..." she mumbled with a frown. "What are the both of you plotting?"

"Nothing," they both smiled, but Hiyori wasn't reassured. She had known them for years, and had come to learn that a double smile meant that they had an idea in mind.

A loud sneeze behind her made all three jump a little, and soon a man with a sheepish expression approached them. "Ah... Sorry to be a bother, girls, but do any of you have tissues? I... I just ran out of them, and I know I won't pass the day without them."

Horror and indignation rooted Hiyori's feet on the spot. She stared at the man in disbelief while her friends were searching through their bags for the asked item. He saluted her, his face twisted by a smirk. "Hello, Hiyori-chan."

She couldn't even hear her friends' words over her own thumping heart. He rolled his eyes at her red face. "Why do you look so _furious _for? Come on, did I do something wrong? Trying to have Yaboku back doesn't count, I'm just saying."

"Are you _really_ asking me if you did something wrong?" she breathed. This fake air of nonchalance was seriously starting to get on her nerves.

"Er, yeah, I am," he frowned, looking at Ami and Yama's retreating backs. "You look like you're ready to hit me right here right now whereas I didn't do anything wrong. Did something happen to my Yaboku that you're holding me responsible for? What is it this time?"

"You tried to _murder_ him!" she cried, furious tears appearing in her eyes. "Stop acting like a hypocrite a-and like you're innocent, because it's just unnerving when it's obvious it's your fault! I'm sure you sent Nora to do it, huh?! You wanted to prove Yato that h-he wouldn't be free of you, and so you targeted us again! But _why_ can't you ever leave him alone?! He... And Yukine-kun too, they're both gravely hurt because of the fire you started at Kofuku-san's house! Y-Yato might even never wake up!"

He blinked at her. "What _on_ _earth_ are you talking about? I didn't start any fire." He pursued before she could object. "How mean, Hiyori-chan. I just came to say hello, and you're trying to pin a crime on me."

He turned around and headed to his next class. "Geez, you're not cool. I'm done talking with you. I don't know who you think the culprit is, but I can tell you that you're getting the wrong person. And Mizuchi stayed with me all day too. If you want to accuse me of something..."

Something like a challenge glinted in his chestnut eyes. "Then prove it with more than words."

* * *

She wondered for a second if asking to wring Fujisaki's neck would be uncalled for, as a Christmas or birthday present. He was deliberately _provoking_ her, but she wouldn't just stay like this and do nothing. If he wanted proofs shoved at his ugly face, then _fine_. Proofs he would get.

She let out a calming breath once in front of Yato's room, shoving all the angry thoughts that had bloomed in her head after the conversation in a corner of her mind to let place to something calmer. She cleared her throat, fiddling with her fingers. "Here we are. I would have wanted to present you the others, but they're all sleeping, and... Well. They really need it, so it's better not to wake them up. I... warn you that he isn't healed yet. Please, don't make too much noise or don't be too surprised at what you will see."

They held each other's hand tighter as Hiyori turned the doorknob, and indeed, they had to force their mouths not to let out a gasp or scream.

It was terrible to see. Yato was white like a marble statue, the same colour as his gown, looking nothing like a human being. The few visible inches of skin of the god's body either looked like coal, completely black and burnt, or were red and covered in blisters. His face hadn't been spared by the fire either, judging by the painful-looking injury that had barely scarred on his cheek.

Ami and Yama let their friend advance and take the unmoving, charred body's hand in her own. Her eyes were shining with melancholy and sadness as she engaged a one-sided conversation with him in a low voice. They had never thought someone look so heartbroken, like someone mourning their loved one.

They both nodded to each other before taking a five-yen coin out of their pocket. Hiyori turned around when she heard them clap their hands together, and looked at the both of them with unhidden puzzlement.

They bowed. "Jurōjin-sama, Jurōjin-sama. Please, may you bring healthiness and happiness to this man. May you heal all his wounds and burns, and bring a smile back to our friend's face."

They mumbled something hidden behind their hands before straightening their backs. Hiyori's eyes stayed wide open. "Yama-chan... Ami-chan..."

"We prayed Jurōjin-sama, the god of health and prosperity. Don't worry, Hiyori, gods are definitely on our side!" laughed Yama. "They will hear our prayer, we gave them our money after all."

Ami rolled her eyes at her friend's words, but a warm smile still found its way to her face. "It broke our hearts to see you so sad, and we hoped that maybe this could help you. This prayer will work, and your friend will wake up, so smile a little, okay? He will be alright!"

She stared at them, unblinking, and little by little a fierce blush crept to her cheeks. She turned her back at them so that they wouldn't see her tears, but they weren't her friends for nothing. "Hey, we saw you, Hiyori. It's okay to cry, you know?"

"Y-Yes... Yama-chan, Ami-chan... Thank you..."

* * *

A wide smile appeared on Yukine's face as he snapped the book he'd been reading shut. "Dad!"

"Hey champ!" grinned the other man, embracing his son tight while being mindful of his injuries. "I'm glad to see you. How have you been?"

"I've been good. And I'm glad to see you too..." The man brushed his thumb against Yukine's bandaged cheek, making the latter look up with wide eyes. "What is it?"

"There is something bothering you. I can read you like an open book. You know you can tell me everything, right? We're finally back together."

He deflated and dropped the act. Parents always seemed to guess when something was wrong, but he would have liked not being _that_ transparent. "It's..." He let out a sigh. "Actually, I'm... I'm worried for someone. He is hospitalized... Before you came back, he was the one taking care of me."

"You mean the one _supposed_ to take care of you," he growled. "You're at the hospital, and you're gravely hurt. Whoever had to take care of you didn't succeed in this task."

"Don't say that, Dad! Yato... He always tries his best to keep me safe. He got injured more than once doing so, and this time too, and e-even if you're not happy I'm injured he is in a terrible state. Worse than mine, and worse than anyone else who was in that house when it burnt. He... searched for me before even thinking about leaving this dangerous place, although it was hot and there was so much smoke and it would have been safer for him to leave right away. He even let the whole burning house fall on him so that _I_ would be safe. H-He never stopped protecting me and taking care of me, Dad! A-And now he is in a coma and it's _all my fault_!"

"There, there..." he soothed. "Don't cry, son."

"I want to see him awake," he wept against his father's chest. "I could n-never s-see him because his room was closed all the time and they said that the sight would upset me too much. I u-usually never tell him that, but I hate when he gets hurt and I _miss_ him. I miss him so much Dad! I-I want to see him awake, and I want to present him to you."

The man tightened his lips before settling him on his hip like a child. "If you want this so much then, I will bring you to his room. It's the least I can do. You tell me in which room he is and I will take you there, so stop crying, okay?"

Yukine wiped his nose and nodded childishly. Emotions went from shinki to gods, and crying wouldn't do anything to improve Yato's state. But even for Yato, he just couldn't put a grin to his face and pretend he was okay. Not now. The situation was too grave.

Father and son passed through the busy nurses, unnoticed as ghosts. After gently setting his son down, his uninjured foot first, Yukine's father turned the doorknob to open the room. The shinki froze at this terrifying sight, the sight of a broken, burned body clinging to life and fighting for each breath. The pain in his foot felt so _insignificant_ next to that.

He limped next to the unconscious god to pour the rest of the tears he had on the back of his burned hand.

His father patted him on the shoulder. "So he is your friend... The man who has been taking care of my son all this time. I... I sincerely hope he will get better soon."

He fell on a chair with a heavy sigh. "Son, listen to me. I... I was hesitating to tell you at first, but seeing how much you take all this to heart, it would seem dishonest not to tell you the truth. I... I know who started the fire, and I also came to tell you that." His gaze saddened when Yukine opened big, teary eyes towards him.

"It was your mother," he sighed. "I already told you she was sick, but I never knew she could go to such lengths. I think she saw you one day, and she must have followed you to see where you were living with your friend. I received a message from her. She said that it would surely kill you for good."

Shock loosened Yukine's grip on Yato's hands, which fell limply and rebounded on the mattress. He already hated his mother, a monster who had taken the life of her own child, but it wasn't why he was shocked. He was shocked for something far worse. "So... Yato..."

_"Yato... He isn't awake now. He got some nasty burns. Really nasty, ugly burns. He won't wake up now, but he will. We have to believe in him."_

_"Do you really think I'm innocent?! I'm a binbougami! I d-don't want to hurt others, or s-scare them, but m-maybe I'm the one who created this fire! Maybe I'm the one who made all of you suffer so much!"_

Everything around him darkened all of a sudden. The cloudy sky turned black, the room's walls felt like a prison. At this instant, he felt alone, but more than anything he felt _cold_. "Then... They all got hurt because of_... _because of _me?"_

"Yes, her main objective was to murder you with this fire. I can only thank the gods you got through that with so few injuries. I... I don't know what I would have done with myself if you were hurt and burned as badly as Yato-kun."

It surely wasn't his intention, but his words only made him feel worse. "I-It's my fault..."

"From what I see, he will need several surgeries," he mumbled, shuffling through Yato's medical report. "He's just got too many burns. His knees, his right ankle, his neck... It certainly won't be _free_. Say, can Yato-kun afford to pay them all?"

With his jobs that he charged for only five yen? No, it was unlikely that he could even afford to pay _one_. Maybe Daikoku and Kofuku could, the cheapest one, but what about the others? He wanted his master back. He wanted to have his god back and see him healthy and alive again so that he could present him his father. He had just gotten a part of his family back, and he was determined not to lose the other.

A large hand fell on Yukine's shoulder. "Son, listen to me. I know good people out there who would pay you a fortune for some work. How about I contact them? It's easy, and something you can do, even with your injured foot. Maybe you could get some money for you, and pay the surgeries for your friend too, don't you think?"

"I... I don't know. I..."

"I will let you some time to think about it." He delved into one of his pockets to hand him and brought out a stained piece of paper. "Here, this is my phone number. Send me a message as soon as you can. All your friends seem to be a little bit stressed out right now, so don't... Don't tell them about me yet, alright? Can I count on you for this? We will wait the right time to tell them."

A dazed Yukine nodded to him, and he bent to kiss his cheek. "Thank you, son. You're the best. I will see you in a few days, hopefully." Yukine sniffled and took one of Yato's hands in his own once again. He clutched the paper more strongly in his other hand.

He was utterly responsible for this. His mad, twister mother was the reason this whole disaster had happened and had broken so many innocents. He had committed a sin, and he knew he wouldn't ever be able to forgive himself if he did nothing to repay this. Yato would wake up, even if it was the last thing he did.


	4. Chapter 4

**Gods, I'm really sorry I took so long to post this chapter. It was written and everything, but... Ugh. I've been dealing with some stuff, and... I couldn't describe exactly how I felt, but I'm just so glad that it's OVER. Like, really. It was horrible.**

**Well, answering my dear reviewer, Aofery:**

**(review from chapter 1): Thank you! Oh my god, you're _too_ sweet. I'm really, really happy to know that you like this story, and that you encourage me so much. You're really the best, and I'm going to do my best so that you continue liking this 3**

**You don't say XD My little sister had to console me when she saw me cry like a little child in front of my phone. I even woke my older brother up with my screaming... How embarrassing XD**

**.**

**(review from chapter 3): I don't want to scare you, but yes, it IS going to get really bad XD Thanks for you support, and on with the story!**

* * *

He had to be careful now. A single misstep, and the whole surprise would be completely ruined.

He sent messages to his father only when he was absolutely _certain_ to be alone, and sometimes had to hang up in a hurry when people entered his room. A pinprick of guilt stabbed his heart each time he had to do this, but his father had insisted on the fact that no one should know that he had come back, and he was going to keep that promise even if it was the last thing he did.

He couldn't wait for his family to be reunited.

His aching foot greatly slowed down the process of dressing correctly to go outside, but he still managed to slip it into its shoe and grab his crutches to go out. Today would be his first day at work, and the last thing he wanted was to be late. The first impression was crucial.

He bumped against Daikoku's body in his hurry to leave, who was quick to catch his arm before he fell. "Whoa. I-I'm sorry, I hadn't seen you. Are you okay?"

"N-No, I'm okay. Don't worry." He rubbed his reddened forehead and took back the crutch Daikoku was giving him to adjust it at the right angle under his shoulder. Dread filled his stomach as he looked away from Daikoku's piercing, calculating eyes. He knew what he was going to ask him. "Where are you going dressed like this? You told me you were going to rest."

"Yeah, I was, but, um... A nurse told me Yato's phone rang, and I took the call. It's a job to clean a bathroom, and I thought... I could do it for him... since he hasn't woken up yet. He wouldn't have wanted to miss a job, and it's always a few yens earned, right?"

Daikoku crossed his arms, looking sceptical. "It doesn't seem like a good idea to go alone to me. Nothing is fixed yet in your body, and I really don't like the thought of you doing a job alone with a stranger. Yato wouldn't have approved either."

"What are you saying, Daikoku-san?! I-It's going to be alright," he stuttered, embarrassed that everyone was always treating him like a little kid. "It's just cleaning, so don't worry so much. It's surely not going to happen, but I promise I will call you if I have a problem. I brought my phone with me."

"Are you sure you can clean with crutches? And your phone, does it have enough battery?"

He nodded with tight lips at each of Daikoku's questions - he was definitely going to be late at this rate - and eventually he was given the authorization to leave. Not too soon. He teleported to the address his father had sent him as soon as he could, and a loud, booming voice welcomed him immediately. "Hey, Yukine!"

Warmth bloomed in his heart as his father dashed towards him to give him the biggest hug he had ever received from anyone. The kind that, weak or not, would have definitely sent him to the ground with its strength. True, his grip was a little bit too tight and set some of his wounds on fire. But it was also overflowing with an undeniable love and a genuine feeling of 'I missed you.', and he found himself speechless. They had seen each other _two_ days ago.

He wasn't sure when a massive lump had clogged up his throat, or when a few tears had started to fall from his misty eyes.

"I'm so glad to see you," was mumbled by the man, muffled by Yukine's hair. He gave him a quick peck on one of his salty cheeks before finally lowering him down to the ground. "How are you doing? Is your foot getting better?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, his face now wholly red. And he thought Yato was embarrassing. He hated his own naïveté sometimes. "I'm okay."

His father proposed him to eat at the restaurant the second he saw one. Yukine was not only thankful for this kind gesture, but also thankful to eat something else than hospital food. They shared some stories that Yukine had forgotten and laughter there, and once their stomachs were full, they headed to Yukine's new working place. The shinki's heart sank once they arrived there. It wasn't what he had expected at all.

It was small, so small that it made him stomach churn to think that he had to go inside. The building - well, the _shop,_ according to his father - didn't have a sign or name or anything on it; it honestly looked like it had been abandoned for _years._ The few awkward strokes of mat black paint really didn't do anything to make it more welcoming.

Seen like this... It looked like a _box_.

"Are... Are you sure it's here, Dad? Maybe you made a mistake."

"No, I'm sure it's here. I know the address." He knelt next to Yukine and smiled at him, hoping he was reassuring enough. "Listen. I know it looks scary and small seen like this, but _trust me,_ it's safe. You _do_ trust me, don't you?"

"Y-Yes... Of course I trust you, Dad."

His sweet smile twisted into the darkest smirk for half a second, but it was too quick for Yukine to notice. "I know who works there. I wouldn't give my most precious treasure to someone I don't know after all."

He lowered his voice a little bit, sending shivers down Yukine's spine. "But I prefer to warn you. The director of this shop is very... _tactile_, and so are several men working there. Don't worry if... if he ruffles your hair or caress your cheeks or anything like that, okay? Let him do, and don't say anything. He said that he would do his best to tune this habit down for you, but maybe sometimes he will do it and won't notice it."

Apprehension tied Yukine's stomach in a knot. Something was telling him that it was very, _very_ wrong and that he should backtrack before it was too late, but he let his father guide him towards the entrance without a word.

Indeed, anyone seeing this room from outside wouldn't have thought it was so lively inside. It was really big, and the walls were all painted in a light and somehow reassuring light-grey colour. A few muscled men in uniform were carrying big, cardboard boxes from one side of the room to another, shouting each other messages of encouragement or silly jokes. It looked friendly enough, but something was telling him to be careful.

He saw long legs slow down to a stop in front of his father, but he didn't dare look up to see their owner. "You finally arrived! Geez! You're late, as usual."

He tugged at his father's pants childishly, stopping their little conversation. He _needed_ to get out of there. His head was spinning, and he felt like his knees wouldn't be able to support his weight any longer, with or without crutches. It was definitely because of the weird smell there. What was that?

"Why are you doing this, son? Come on, don't pinch your nose like that, you're being impolite in front of your new boss."

Yukine's uneasiness and nausea only increased when the director crouched next to him to slowly stroke his cheek with his thumb. He remembered his father's warning just in time to suppress a flinch. "Try again. It's the incense... You're not the first one to have complained about that smell. But breathe again, okay? It will pass."

Yukine reluctantly obeyed, feeling entranced by something lurking at the bottom of this person's eyes. His hand fell limply to his side and, while he suddenly and unnaturally felt more tired, the weird smell was gone. "I'm okay now. Th-Thank you."

"The pleasure is mine! I'm the director of the shop. What's your name?" He looked away and answered half-heartedly, his hands trembling. "I-It's Yukine... I-I'm glad to work with... with you, mister."

"Aw, he is even polite! How cute!" A shiver of disgust ran through him when he felt the man's lips press against his cheek. Even if it was short and he had stepped back after this, it left a sick, nauseous feeling in the pit of stomach. "Well, I will pick you up in a few hours, Yukine. Behave, okay? And don't forget what I told you earlier."

* * *

He followed the older man without saying anything, his mind utterly blank. "Here, this is where you will work. You only have to sort the bills and the coins in this cash box. If someone asks their way and you don't know what to answer, tell them to ask her, okay?" He gestured to a red-haired woman who was typing something on a computer. "Any questions?"

He thought about asking if he could leave now. He was out of breath despite now having done anything else than walking. He was sweating, his movements were clumsy and sluggish, and his whole body flared with pain at almost each of his movements. His foot was making him painfully remember that he needed to go through a few more surgeries before being okay again.

"N-No..." He coughed a few times, each cough making him feel like his ribcage would explode. "It's okay."

"Good." A man yelled something to the director, who knelt once again in front of him. "Sorry, it sounds like they have run out of cement. Yukine-chan, you see that red door here? You go left, and you will arrive at the reserve. Take the lightest pack you can find and bring him to that man over there, the one with glasses. Do you think you can do this?"

"I can," he mouthed voicelessly before walking towards that door, faint anger present in his dull eyes. He had barely begun yet already had had enough of that work. It was nothing like he thought it would be.

It wasn't tiring at all, and he was thankful for that, but the director was almost always next to him, using jokes and advices as excuses to touch him. His father had told him not to react, so he acted like it didn't bother him, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to fake indifference for long.

It made him sick to think what they would be doing to him now if his father hadn't asked him to tune down this habit.

He couldn't stop, though. Not yet, not until he had gotten the money he needed. Yato was still burnt, hurt, broken on his hospital bed, and not working wasn't going to fix this. Moreover, he had been told that he would only work four hours today, and that he would definitely be home before night.

Only three hours and twenty minutes left.

The reserve was a stuffy place that clearly hadn't been cleaned recently, if the cobwebs on the ceiling and the layers of dust on the boxes were anything to go by. He spotted the light switch in that dark reserve almost immediately, the small white rectangle standing out in the dark.

He had tried to find the light switch before anything else, so he didn't notice that the first step of the stairs leading to the bags was broken.

His eyes widened a fraction of second as he felt _nothing_ under his feet before he lost balance and fell, his sore body banging on each of the stone stair's steps. After a fall that felt like it wouldn't _ever_ end, the pointy corner of a box dug in his back as he awkwardly landed on them. Something else slammed with full force against his bruised skull, and let out a gasp as a wave of pain overwhelmed him.

He came back to his senses when a hand shook his shoulder. He blinked a few times, his eyes unfocused. "I thought I had heard someone falling...! Are you alright, kiddo?"

He tried to answer him something, but only gasps and wheezes came out of his mouth. The corners of the man's lips turned downwards. "Don't tire yourself speaking... Your face is white. Come here, come here." The man wrapped his hand around his wrist and slowly raised him in an sitting position, trying his best not to hurt him more than he already was. Yukine rubbed his torso and coughed a few times, the cement falling from his hair tickling his nose. "Are you okay?"

Blood was trickling down his back and his face from his re-opened wounds, and the fall had torn some of his bandages. It was high time he returned to the hospital... He didn't even know what time it was now.

He was dazed and tired and bleeding and on the verge of losing consciousness once again. Too focused on his own pain, he didn't pay much attention to the man moving away from him. He jerked his head up when he heard a _click,_ an important sound that he was certain to have already heard before.

The switch. Yukine's heart fell in the bottom of his stomach as deadly darkness fell down the room.

Immediately, a large, male body slammed him down to the floor and tried to pin the struggling teenager down. He fought back the best he could, kicked and cried, but the man was definitely stronger than him. A fist wrapped by the darkness of the pitch-black room crashed against his cheek, and white exploded in his mind. Sharp teeth dug in the base of his neck, and he screamed once again.

He had stopped counting how many times he had cried for help now, and salty tears of helplessless fell to the floor. The man was talking to him, or maybe screaming, but there was no way he could hear it over his pounding head and frenetic heartbeat. His tears of helplessness turned into desperate, broken wails.

Why did no one come?

_"Dad..."_

Why nobody _ever_ came to save him when he needed it?

_"Dad! Please, let me out!"_

Someone yelled next to him, but he didn't know if it was his own voice that sounded so foreign to him right now or someone else's. He felt out of his own body, like this aggression had happened to someone else and that he had only been forced to witness it with a heavy heart. He barely heard the soft voice that was talking to him, and the hand around his wrist that helped him limp towards the exit.

He threw up once he was outside.

"It's okay now," repeated awkwardly a vaguely familiar woman with red locks, patting his sweaty back. "Should I call your father and ask him to bring you home?"

This place was _hell_. He wouldn't bear this director's attitude any longer, and knew that if he saw that man _who had touched him_ again he would panic. He wanted to murder all the people who had heard his cries of help yet did nothing to help him. He knew he couldn't set foot there again, because otherwise he would-

"_Yukine_!" called his father, kneeling next to the trembling boy. He looked like he was scared of touching him, like his touch could break him in thousands of tiny pieces. "What's wrong?! Did something happen?!"

"I took care of him," sighed the director, appearing behind them with a somewhat tired expression. "I'm sorry. He drank too much... One of my men tried to attack your kid, but Marisa saw him and she stopped him before he did any real damage. He will be fired tomorrow for assault." He knelt in front of the trembling hafuri. "I'm... I'm sorry, Yukine. I never wanted this to-"

"_Go away_," he blustered, dodging just his thumb on his cheek just in time. He scowled, but didn't think he looked very threatening with tears falling from his eyes. "D-Damn it. I thought s-some people didn't k-know the meaning of personal space, but you're just the _worst_. Y-You disgust me. You're no better than him, t-touching me all the time. I-I don't wa-want you to talk to me. G-Go do your dirty stuff alone."

"Yukine, don't talk to him that way!" growled his father.

"No, it's okay. I'm not offended. It's only natural; he is angry after all." The director took two new bills out of his pocket to place them on Yukine's lap. "Although it was short, you _did_ work. You deserve your salary. I... Even if we didn't begin with on the best bases, I... hope I will see you again, kiddo."

Yukine let out a low sound as he bared his teeth. His dirty hands were touching him _again_, and if he weren't recovering from a panic attack he would have barked him to take his stupid money with him and never show his ugly face again. His father waited patiently that he was breathing properly again to speak. "Yukine, you needn't talking to him like that."

"Well, it was _his_ fault, Dad," he hissed. "He is the one who hired this psychopath, and all the other weirdoes touching me. Forgive me if I blame this on him."

_"_He might have given him the job, but he never did anything to you. You will not only stop talk back to me like that, because that's not something I will allow for long, but you will also present your apologies to him tomorrow when you will go back to work."

"What, apologize?" he huffed angrily, but tears stung his eyes. "Dad, it's not fair! Why should I apologize to anyone?! I-I did nothing _wrong_!"

"Neither did he!" he raged, and Yukine flinched. "When will you finally grow up and stop throwing a tantrum?! He barely _touched_ you! There is nothing to be whining about!_"_

His voice was dripping with venom and his eyes were sharp, and whatever Yukine wanted to answer him died in his throat. Father and son stared at each other a long moment, like one had seen something hidden in the other that they wouldn't ever have suspected it was there. The sound of Yukine's phone chiming cut through the silence, and the shinki's father eyes fell down his bloodied pocket. "Who is that?"

"It's a friend," Yukine stuttered, ready to burst into tears right here and now. His voice became high-pitched, verged on a sob. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

He teleported before his father's hand could tighten around his forearm.

* * *

He fell the second he materialized in the room, pale and emptied of his strength. He was vaguely aware that someone screamed, of the sea of panicked voices calling him. Someone was trying to communicate with him, shaking his shoulder and waving their hand in front of his eyes, but everything was low and blurry and muffled now and he didn't have to patience or energy to try to decipher them.

He couldn't _understand_ why his own father hadn't taken his defense. Were the blood smeared on his clothes and the tears on his face not enough to make him understand that something had happened? He... He had just been assaulted by a man he didn't know. He could have gotten himself killed. He had tolerated the caresses and the kisses, but this was going too far. Why should _he_ have to apologize?

"Yukine-san. Please try to slow your breathing down," tried a nurse knelt next to him. "If you continue breathing like this, your ribs could break!"

It was grotesque. _Grotesque_, stupid and ridiculous. And no matter what his father thought about it, he wouldn't _apologize_. Not to _anyone_ working in this shop, if that could be called a shop, except maybe the girl who had saved him. They were the ones who had to apologize, and-

A breathing mask was firmly placed on his nose. "It's going to be okay. Here, breathe with me, Yukine-san. Short, slow breaths not to hurt your ribs. There is no one to hurt you here, so you don't have to panic, alright? You are safe. Your friends are here to protect you."

The hafuri's clenched fists loosened little by little as he breathed the cold air contained in the mask. The tears and cries and panic in his mind let place to a soothing silence, and soon enough, only an unconscious, wounded body laid on the floor.

What a horrible day it had been.

* * *

Yato blinked twice, and his face automatically closed up - before he could take a second to analyse where he was, or what had happened for him to feel so weak and tired.

He had to see Yukine. Right now.


	5. Chapter 5

**yukibbydon'tdie: Thank you for reviewing, I'm very glad to know that you're enjoying this so much! :))) Very good questions you're asking me, that should be answered soon. And don't worry about your English! ;) If anything, it makes me happy that someone who's not English reads my story :)**

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**Aofery: We could continue all day like this, you know? XD You're so sweet, I'm glad persons like you still exist. Thank you for your words. We've both been caught by a sibling then XD No manga ever affected me this much, I swear... Noragami is _strong._ If anything happens to one of my babies in the manga, or if someone dies (except Fujisaki who MORE than deserves it, and I think death is still too clement for him) I'm going to break.**

**Worse is coming than the job. *evil face*. Thankfully Yato's there... For now, I mean. I like their reunion in this chapter. They're just so _sweet..._ *_***

**.**

**You're all awesome. Honestly... I can't stop smiling like an idiot in front of my laptop because you're all too sweet. You all deserve the world, but I'm afraid I can only give you another chapter, so here you go. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do XD**

* * *

So he was back in the hospital, huh. It's not like he could really see well around him, or _move_ to see around him, but he guessed he was there. There was a pungent, chemical smell of antiseptic in the air, and he was all wrapped up in blankets and bandages, probably linked to whatever had happened yesterday that he couldn't remember.

As if telling him that it was a bad idea, his skull throbbed each time he tried to reflect on this memories that were only a few hours old. When each new lead a thought or an emotion led to a dead end, he gave up. Maybe it would come back to him later.

Not that he really wanted it, though.

"Yukki!" cried Kofuku with a loud voice, startling the boy out of his pain to look at her. He really _was_ out of it, if he hadn't noticed _Kofuku_ of all people. The goddess wasn't really known for her stealth. "You gave us quite a scare yesterday, you know? What happened? You were covered in blood, and you didn't respond to anything we said!"

"Yukine, why didn't you call me yesterday?" grumbled another voice. "You came back late in the night, and you were hurt. We were all worried sick."

He honestly wished he could make these worried frowns and tight lips disappear, but his mind was too fuddled and his thoughts too murky to give them any kind of satisfying answer. He let out a silent apology when he finally found his voice, but the mood just seemed to get heavier.

A pack of ice was firmly yet gently pressed against his chest, and the shinki looked up to see Hiyori smiling at him. "Don't overthink it. You're safe now, and that's the most important thing."

"Yeah, I-I guess," he croaked before taking the frozen, soothing pack in his hand. "Thank you."

"Yukine-kun," she began, tenderness palpable in her voice. "Do you want to hear some good news? It's something that will make you happy, I'm certain of it." Yukine frowned, his head tilting a little bit to the side. "Actually-"

"Yato-chan woke up yesterday!" interrupted Kofuku in a loud, cheerful voice, earning an annoyed glare from Daikoku. "He still can't go out of walk, but he is fine enough to speak! He looked _soooo_ worried, and he said that he really wanted to see you. You should definitely go visit him when you're feeling better! Okay?"

Kofuku continued talking blithely about this and that, and Hiyori might have added something, but his brain had stopped registering her words. He hoped she wasn't joking, because it would definitely be the worst joke he had ever heard. His god was awake, and she wanted him to patiently wait that he was feeling better?

This wouldn't happen.

He threw the covers out of himself and _ran,_ ignoring his aching, broken foot and relying more on the screws and metal plates in there to make him advance. Running so fast whereas he was in crippling pain set his lungs aflame. He hoped this effort wouldn't go to waste.

Tears sprung to his eyes at the thought of not making it on time. Sadness and anguish were heavy chains wrapped around his heart. Without him wanting it, they were making his heart sink, sink to some place he wasn't sure he could reach, and he knew only Yato could pick it up before it shattered.

The sudden run felt longer and harder than it actually was, and the tears that had been building up in his eyes finally rolled down his cheeks the second Yato's sky-blue eyes met his. _"Yato!"_

This idiot had made him worry so, so much. He had risked life for him _again_ and he had made him worry and cry and deserved to be whacked over the head for these reasons alone, but at the same time he wanted to hug him tight and cry his eyes out because he had _missed_ him.

He advanced, one unsteady step after the other, as if waiting for the illusion to dissipate like a mirage before his heart and sanity broke for real. But a shuddering, weak breath fled his lips when he had limped at his bedside. Yato was _there._

His skin was still umcomfortably red and strangely pale, though. And he was bandaged. And despite his efforts, because it was Yato and _obviously_ he would hide his pain, there was still a deep frown on his face that, combined with the corner of his lips that refused to stay still, formed a deep grimace of pain.

As much as it hurt him, it was better not to jostle the god too much.

So he stepped back a few centimetres away from his bed and gritted his teeth the hardest he could not to let more tears fall, like a child to whom had been forbidden his stuffed toy.

"Geez, Yukine," groaned the god, unclenching his jaw and rolling his eyes. "Stop acting like a baby and come here. I'm strong! I survived a fire, so I'm sure I can survive a hug from my favourite shinki."

Fat tears rolled down his cheeks and his breathing wavered at the god's words. His hands clenched in tiny, trembling fists, and every emotion he had been repressing since this whole mess began burst with full force in his chest, like a bright firework of pain.

Before he could think better of it, he launched himself on Yato and clutched at his hospital gown as tight as he could to cry like a child. The god ran a - hopefully not _too_ sweaty - hand in his golden hair, and Yukine _never_ thought he would ever miss Yato's touch so much.

He thought about revealing everything to Yato. He thought about telling him that he had found his father, that his mother was a heartless monster that had murdered him without thinking twice about it. He thought about revealing him that his workplace was _hell_, and that everybody was caressing him and kissing him on the cheeks and that he _didn't_ like that but his father had repeated that he had to be silent and let them do.

He thought about telling him that despite everything, he couldn't wait for the both of them to finally meet.

But guilt sealed his lips. The fire, Yato's burns, _everyone's_ burns were his entire fault, and he had to assume the consequences. None of that would have happened if his mother hadn't tried to murder him. "I missed you, kid," the god said in a hoarse, tight voice as something in his heart healed. "I'm glad to see you."

"I m-missed you too, Yato," he choked up. Yato's gown soon became damp with tears, and the god's dull eyes widened. He was glad that he hadn't fully regained consciousness and wasn't at full strength, because Yukine's sadness would have surely knocked him back on his bed.

Unsure of what to do, as often with this kid, he moved his hand on the back of his head and tucked him close.

Usually it was enough to calm the kid down after a nightmare of after something had happened. But this time, Yukine's tears didn't stop with words. The poor child was _inconsolable._ He cried and cried, cried until he couldn't breathe and his face was all red because of it. There was so much sadness polluting his tiny human heart that Yato felt like crying too.

Honestly, this was one of the many times he wished he knew what to do to make things better. His hand moved from the back of his head to his shinki's sticky cheek. "Yukine, breathe. You're..." His whole body slackened as tiredness kicked in.

He gritted his teeth and picked up his boneless hand to cup Yukine's cheek once again, despite how hard it was. "Y-You're not doing any good to your body or your ribs. Try to calm down, okay? Do you think that you can do that for me? Take deep breaths, and then you'll see there is nothing to hurt you there."

Yukine tightened his grip as he let out a shuddering, cathartic breath. "S-Sorry..."

His kid's voice was so weak and broken that it made Yato's heart ache like an open, fresh wound. A surge of protectiveness burst to life in his battered chest. He would do about _anything_ not to hear that sound again.

"It's okay," he smiled, though he had a feeling that he wasn't apologizing about the ten-minutes fit he'd just had. "But hey, if you cry like this and don't want to let me go, then you must have been pretty worried. Don't teenagers, like, _hate_ seen being crying? It's going to ruin your 'tough guy' reputation," teased the god.

His smile dropped when Yukine started to tremble. "...Come here, kiddo."

Although every fiber of his body only asked for _sleep,_ he sat up and guided Yukine in his arms to hold him close. He first wriggled a little bit so that his back was against the wall, since the probability that he fell back unconscious was ridiculously high, then shifted Yukine's boneless body so that he would be in the most comfortable position.

Yukine coughed and heaved in a few deep breaths in the crook of Yato's neck once he was settled, and his hand held the fabric above the god's heart tight and taut. Yato only tightened his embrace. Now that the god thought about it, Yukine's forehead felt quite hot against his cheek. "Are you sick?" he worried out loud.

"N-No..."

Yato wasn't sure about this, but he let it slide. "What happened to you, to make you cry like this?"

"I... It's okay now."

"No, it's _not._ Yukine, tell me the truth. What's wrong? Though I'm pretty useless, maybe I can help you. Or at least try to fix the problem."

"Nothing's wrong, Yato," he repeated in a more subdued voice. "I tell you I'm okay... And I really don't want to talk about it."

Yato's eyebrows twitched. He wasn't getting any of that.

"Oh, you're _okay?_ Strange, that's not what Kofuku told me," said hotly the god. "I don't think anyone showing up in the middle of the night covered in blood and hyperventilating and wounded without reason can actually be qualified as _fine."_

Yukine shrank, and Yato knew he had gone too far now. The fire and sharpness in Yato's voice mellowed into the concern it truly was. "Kiddo," he tried again. "I really don't like to force you, but I _want_ you to tell me. It's important. Don't you think we... Don't you think _I_ was worried about you? Do you really think that whatever happened to you isn't worth worrying over or talking about?"

"I-It's..."

Yato was many things right now, namely in crippling pain and weary, but he wasn't _blind._ He had seen the bright red bruise on his Yukine's cheek, the pattern painfully similar to the one a punch would leave. He had seen the bite mark deep enough to draw blood on the base of his neck that would have been treated if he hadn't fled to see Yato.

There were too few wounds for the hypothesis of a fight to be plausible. Someone had assaulted his kid, someone who should better be careful where they were walking this night.

"Yukine. Did someone attack you last night?"

"Y-Yes," he gave up. A hint of fear crept in Yato's voice. "Was the person who assaulted you a man?"

No one had any right to hurt his kid in general, but the situation would quickly turn to bloodshed if the man who hurt Yukine was _him_ again. Hadn't he had enough already? Murdering Yukine once wasn't enough? He was a pathetic, pitiful man. A poor excuse for a human being. Maybe he had seen his kid in his despair, and lashed out at him.

"Yeah," he rasped. His shaking intensified. "It was a m-man, yesterday... H-He trapped me... in a room, a-a-and after that he switched t-the lights off. It was... _dark._ And t-then, he pinned m-me down... He... _Gods,_ Yato, I-I was terrified..."

Exactly when he felt new tears in his eyes, his father's loud, authoritarian voice rang in his hazy mind.

_"Seriously, when will you finally grow up?! He barely touched you! There is_ nothing_ to be whining about!"_

"But it's not a big deal," he added in a silent voice, finally daring to open his sad eyes. His father was _right: t_here was no need to make such a fuss about something so little. "It's not a big deal. I'm surely exaggerating... I shouldn't have been out so late, and he barely touched me. Whatever happened is my fault."

"How would that be _your_ fault?!" the god of calamity choked. Yukine opened his lips to answer him something, but he cut him before he could say more nonsense.

He firmly grabbed his shinki's chin to force him to stare straight in his eyes, and Yukine shivered.

Yato looked ancient and absolutely _furious_. He had _never_ seen him like that; the look on his face was deadlier than the one he had when Hiyori's memories had been stolen. "Don't _ever_ say something like that again. It was definitely not your fault. How can you... Yukine, how can you _say_ this?"

"But Yato," he moaned. "It's true that he barely touched me. H-He could have done worse than that, after all... A _lot_ worse..."

Yato tightened his embrace, hoping it would be strong enough to stop Yukine from trembling. "Yukine, listen to me. I don't want ever to hear you say that it's okay to be hit. It's not okay. It's _never_ okay. No one has a right to hurt you. Anyone who hurt you is _wrong,_ and you have to tell me. You can't just say that it's okay because he could have done worse."

It was _weird._ It was like, in the span of a few days, Yukine had become another person. There were some things of life that were never taught to Yukine, courtesy of his father, but the kid knew what he had just told him. He wouldn't never defend his agressor without a good reason.

"Yeah," he mumbled, wiping his eyes and his forehead. His moment of weakness had lasted long enough. "I-I'm sorry for freaking out. I won't say that again. I promise."

He nodded, and his expression softened when he saw a small, timid smile on his kid's face. "I trust you, then", he mumbled before asking louder. "What _was_ this job anyway? You never told me."

He bit his lip and looked away, too drained to pretend right now. Yato would surely tease him for that, but it was better than making him worry over nothing. "Someone proposed me a job, but... A-As you guessed, it didn't go well. I was reluctant to go first because it was late, but it was well-paid. I... I wanted to help pay the... the..."

The god's voice wasn't above a whisper as something clicked in his head. "You wanted to help pay my surgeries?" he asked in disbelief. Yukine nodded sheepishly, and the god's heart melted.

What a sweet kid he was.

He grinned at him. "Aw, you're too really cute. But don't worry, it's going to be okay."

He raised big, reddened eyes at his god. "How?"

"Well, the psycho bitch came to visit me, you know? And she said that I was _so pathetic_ wrapped in all these bandages that she wanted to pay for them! Honestly, if she doesn't want to buy clothes with all her money, then she can waste it on my surgeries. I don't mind."

Yukine chuckled lightly, and Yato's smile widened. "Don't worry too much. The docs said that I was a fighter. In two weeks maximum, I will be out of there, and after that we can go home. It has been rebuilt."

His eyes narrowed dangerously, but there was still a touch of amusement lurking at their bottom. "And as soon as I'm discharged we can find the bastard who hit you. Daikoku and I can attach him to some streetlamp and beat him up until he falls unconscious for raising a single of his filthy finger on you. The girls can help too! I'm sure Hiyori has a few Jungle Savates that she would like to use, and Kofuku could always open a vent. I can ask the crazy bitch if she wants to train shooting with Kazuha and Karuha..."

None of that was the truth. He knew Yukine's father was guilty, and thus he reserved himself the privilege of destroying him and his soul. Anyone hurting Yukine hurt him too, and he was determined to get revenge for his kid for the tragedy that fell on him. If anything good had to rise from all this, from the fire and the tears, then it was this man's death.

Yukine let out a shaky laugh. "You can't do that. You will get arrested."

"Uh-uh... Wrong answer. I'm a god, and gods are never wrong. Police and humans can't do anything against me," he nodded with too much pride. "No, seriously, Yukine. No one hurts you and gets away with it. You remember this, okay?"

"Yeah... I guess you're right. It's... It's _wrong, _right? I'm sorry for saying that. And scaring you, too."

"No, _I'm_ the one who's sorry. I never meant for you to be left alone for so long." Yato's hand in his hair regained its rhythmic, loving strokes, and Yukine leaned in the touch. "We didn't even talk about the fire. You're not having too much nightmares, are you?"

"It could have been worse," he admitted after a silence. "It has been a moment since I last had a panic attack because something hot touched me, or anything reminded me of the fire. And I often have nightmares, but it's not all the time. I can still sleep at night."

"I see. Well, each time you have a nightmare now, you can go see me and see for yourself that I'm alive and okay and breathing. Though it's sweet coming from you, don't worry too much about me, okay? Focus on your own recovery."

Yukine blushed. "Stop saying creepy things, you good-for-nothing god. I'm not thinking about you 24/7."

"_Liar," _he deadpanned. "I know I have been on your mind a lot. Don't try to deny it, Daikoku told me everything. You pretend you're not thinking about me, yet the first thing you asked when you woke up for the first time was if I was okay!"

"N-Not true, you _creep_!" he cried out in embarrassment. "I _never_ asked that!"

"Aw, now you're blushing!" he pinched his cheek, the one which wasn't too red. Though they both were quite red now, one because of a fist and the other because of teasing. "Don't lie to me, kiddo, it know it _is_ true! Yukine, I always knew you were a sweet kid."

"I'm _not, idiot!_ Ugh, I swear... Y-You're so annoying. Another stupid comment like that, and I hit you."

"Hey, you can't hit me! I'm already hurt, _Yukine!" _he whined.

"I don't care," he growled. "You more than deserve it. Maybe a good hit to the head will make it work properly again. If it has ever worked properly one day, that is."

_"Hey!"_

"Yato. You..." He looked away. "You're sure you're okay? You must be scared too... Of fire."

"Scared?" he asked seriously, an eyebrow quirked. "Why would I be scared? It's not something like that that can shake old me. I've seen worse than this fire. A lot worse. It will take more than flames to break me."

Yukine grimaced when he realized how true it was. Compared to murder and other horrors that he lived through the centuries, a mere fire wasn't that grave. He thought, for the umpteenth time, that Yato was terribly strong. Maybe even too strong for his own sake.

He immediately wanted to take these words back when he saw his kid's expression. He had said too much. He shouldn't talk about emotional stuff when he was tired, because he had absolutely no filter and that meant nothing good.

A wide, relaxed smile stretched his dry lips. "Well, maybe I lied a little bit. Actually, I was scared of only one thing. I was scared as hell of losing you in there," he answered honestly, knowing that he would soon get a rather ardent answer from his kid. "I couldn't help but think about you when we got out! _All the time_. I swear, all I could think about was that I had to protect you from danger...! Because honestly, if I had lost my baby there then I would have-"

_"Shut up!"_ he spluttered, slamming a clumsy hand on his master's mouth, absolutely mortified. His face was probably the reddest thing existing in this planet right now, a special and unique 'Yato being stupid' shade.

Yato could be embarrassing sometimes, but what the hell was he thinking, saying things like that out of the blue?! Maybe a good hit on the head would calm him down. "Wha- What do y-you think you're saying, you _creep?!_ You're like a psychopath! Stop thinking about me all the time!"

"Why should I stop when it makes you so happy?" he grinned, and somehow Yukine choked on his words. He passed a hand in his shinki's hair, shaking his blonde locks. "And red goes well with your hair."

Yukine stared at him a moment, his face flaming red and mouth agape, and Yato took in every small detail on his face. He pushed Yato back against the wall, not even feeling satisfaction when the god yelped in pain, and hopped off his lap. "_I'm leaving._"

"N-No, wait! _Yukine!_ I promise I will stop!"

"Too late," he grumbled sourly, his hand on the doorknob. "I don't stay with dumb people."

"But..." The god made a cartoonish, heartbroken expression as he fumbled with his fingers. "I have a few hours in front of me before they do me another surgery, and I don't like staying _alone._ And I'm _ti-red._ How about... How about you stay with me? Please? My _hafuri?"_

"Fine," he mumbled. He then turned around to point a sharp finger to the god. "But only if you _shut up._ And I mean it. The second you open your stupid mouth to say more dumb stuff I'm leaving."

"I promise!" he cheered, his eyes shining as Yukine came closer and closer. He awkwardly climbed in the bed, minding his injured foot, and squeaked when one of Yato's strong arms pressed his back against his chest. "Hey, what are you-"

"Good night," he sighed, exhaustion obvious in his voice. Not a second later, he felt the god's chest rise and fall under his head. He blinked at him. There was no stupid talking or anything... Yato must have been really tired.

And he was too, so without further ado he let his body wholly relax in Yato's embrace and fell into the best sleep he had ever had. He felt invincible, here in Yato's arms. He was warm against him, but his heat had nothing to do with the fire. This heat wouldn't ever try to harm him.

The god waited until he was sure his kid was asleep to smile at his innocent, childish expression. He brushed a few strands of hair out of his face and dared himself to press a kiss on his slightly sweaty forehead.

The shadow of a grateful smile appeared on his face, and the god fell asleep too, with his most precious treasure safe by his side.

* * *

A rough hand woke him up. He looked around him, disoriented and confused, until his eyes landed on his father. The latter was bent over him with a rather furious expression. "Mh... Dad...?" he asked, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"I called you several times for work," he hissed, unphased. "But you _never_ answered. Why is that?"

"I... I'm sorry," he yawned. He had not even noticed he wasn't sleeping with Yato anymore. He would have to ask to go with him after. As much as it was embarrassing to admit it, he always got the best sleep with the god. "I guess I overslept."

"Hurry up, there are people-"

"I couldn't tell you earlier, Dad," he pursued, cutting his father. "But... you remember Yato? He is the friend I presented you the other day. Well, he told me that another friend accepted to pay the bill for him, so I don't need to work anymore." His eyes started to shine with excitement. "His injuries are grave, but he is strong and he said that he healed really fast! Isn't it great?! I can present him to you now!"

A silence fell, and the man deflated. "Yeah," he sighed tiredly. "Of course... I should have expected that. You began working for this Yato in the first place, and only for him, right?"

"What do you mean?" he frowned.

His fists clenched slowly. "I should have known this... I should have known that you would leave me again as soon as your friend got better. I had hoped you wouldn't, but you love your friend more than you love me, it's obvious. Painfully obvious... It was selfish of me to have thought otherwise, to have thought that, maybe, we could have mended the familiar bond that your mother broke when she tried to kill you."

"I never-"

"No," he cut harshly. "Don't say anything, please. It's hard enough as it is... But it's fine. I understand. And since I'm there, I'd like to apologize for the work. I should have taken your defense. I really thought that it could help you and that it was just the first day that was hard, but apparently it was another mistake of your stupid, pathetic, ruined father. After all, your main goal was to rescue your friend, and he is safe now... You don't have to force yourself to stay with me."

_"What?"_ he panicked, his eyes brimming with tears. He must have misunderstood the words. He couldn't _really_ be saying that.

"Sorry, kid," he smiled sadly, oblivious to Yukine's heartbroken expression. "I'm... I'm sorry for everything." He stood up from the chair with a wince and left without giving his teary-eyed son a second glance. But when Yukine finally snapped out of his shock, the door was already shut.

His father had left.

A pang of burning guilt made him choke on his own breath, and he stared down at his sweaty hands on his lap. One of these two hands flew to his mouth. What did his father _mean_ by that? By '_sorry for everything'?_

It _hurt,_ to make his own parent say such things just because he was selfish. His father had never stopped caring for him and loving him, no matter the strange and _false _memories his mind sometimes created. And he was doing that to him? While it was true that he had begun working only for Yato, it didn't feel fair to abandon his own parent like this... Even more when he had explicitely said that he needed help.

Honestly, what kind of son was he? What kind of _monster_ was he?

He curled up on himself and sobbed, feeling oddly empty now that a chunk of his heart had left along with his father.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hellooooo to all of you, lovely readers! I hope you're all doing great :) **

**Well, my little secret has been discovered by my siblings XD Now my little sister knows I write fanfiction and wants to read the nonsense I've been writing... She's gonna be so disappointed when she reads one, I swear! XD I thought about changing my username so that she wouldn't ever find me XD**

**And my beloved, awesome big brother is going to write too! I'm so proud of him... He is growing up so fast... It's about Harry Potter, so if anyone's interested, I will give you his usename next chapter.**

**And I've got, like, a great idea for the rest of that fic. Maybe some of you won't get what I'm getting at or get scared, but trust me, this time I know what I'm doing :(((**

**Review from Aofery: I laughed SO hard at your review, I swear! Never change, I'm begging you XDD I'm afraid he did, and it's only getting worse. I'm glad that you like it, though! :)))**

***takes Aofery's hand and raises a flag "Wishing all bad fathers die in Noragami so that our babies are happy forever"***

**WHO'S WITH US?!**

* * *

This was the beginning of something worse.

Yukine had tried sending him texts, apologizing for his selfishness and stupidity and _begging_ him not to abandon him again, but they all went unanswered. He wondered if he had deleted his number, or if he was just ignoring him, but either of these possibilities made him sick to the stomach.

He couldn't just let their bond go to waste just because _he_ was a selfish child. His father had surely done many sacrifices for him, so why couldn't he do the same? His father had a reason to insist this much. He just wanted the _best_ for his son. And he surely he counted on him to help him financially too, with this job. Help that Yukine hadn't given him.

What a failure he was.

The majority of his days were spent at sleeping Yato's bedside, sometimes enquiring about the god's health to some doctors passing by, but mostly praying silently that he would receive an answer soon. Ideally a positive one, though he wasn't sure to deserve it, but he wanted _something._ Anxiousness was driving him _crazy._

He would settle for anything, any words on that stupid screen coming from his father would do it and quell this inhumane fear in him. Whether it was a one-word answer, a lie, an empty promise, _anything._ Anything that would show that he still wore Yukine in his heart and that he had not forgotten his son.

He just didn't want to... He didn't want to be _forgotten._

Three days had passed since their argument, and there was still nothing. Honestly, he was so desperate for an answer that going back to work didn't seem like such a terrifying idea.

_But the hands and the man's blood-thirsty look had not stopped haunting him. If he closed his eyes for too long, the air started to heat up and get fuzzy as fire flashed here and there. His bruised bones, or maybe the man's hands, were heavy as stone. They were hopelessly pressing him to the ground deep enough to be sure he couldn't move again, as if trying to bury him alive. Then something that he hadn't noticed before would dive towards his face, and he would wake up with a start, and rarely, a scream._

This instant of reminiscence almost made him not notice the phone buzzing in his hands.

He looked at the device vibrating in his hands as if it was the first time in his life that he saw it, and had absolutely no idea of what to do. This call was happening too quickly, way too quickly for a scene he had played again and again in his head.

His fingers were shaking so badly that the 'answer' button seemed unattainable, and when they finally landed on the toublesome key... There was a soft click, but no voice at the end of the phone.

His father had already cut the call.

* * *

He materialized outside to some place he didn't know, in a middle of a wide field with a small, clear pond and colourful little flowers around it. All that nature and life and beauty and warmth left him completely bereft, though.

The child's muscles went slack and he fell to the ground. Not too long after that, one tear dripped down his face, then two, then three, then _countless_ as he started bawling.

All the images he had shown him the day of their reunion weighted heavily on his conscience. He had not missed _a_ call. It would have been too easy... No, he had missed _the_ call, the only one he had to pick up no matter what. Calling back was useless... He already knew he wouldn't be given another chance.

Maybe it had actually been his last call to his father, and that thought made him want to cry even harder.

"Yukine-san...?" called a confused feminine voice. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

He stilled at the voice - he had wished he wouldn't have been caught by someone - and soon faced a worried... A worried _who?_ His mind was drawing a blank for her name, though her face was vaguely familiar. He frowned as a name came to his lips. "M-Mayu-san?"

"Correct," she smiled sweetly. She clutched the bouquet tighter to her chest and scanned the area around him as if searching for someone who should be there. "What are you doing here? Is Yato-san with you?"

"No, he is sleeping... He doesn't know I'm here," he mumbled weakly, burying his face in his arms. Tenjin's shinki squeezed her flowers slighly tighter, and if Yukine had been looking at her he would have seen the frown on her face deepening. "D-Don't worry about me, Mayu-san. I was just thinking. You can leave."

It sounded more like an order than a request, actually. He felt bad for dismissing her like that, but he was dealing with enough stuff alone right now. And anyway, he was taking care of his emotions right now, and it wasn't like she could understand what he was going through. She was surely going to offer him useless words, and he didn't have the patience to listen to them with a neutral face.

"Fire... is scary, right?"

Yukine blinked and opened wide eyes towards her. She only smiled sadly at him and let her eyes wander to the shining blue pond, a small breeze shaking her shiny black strands. "It's so... So _powerful_ and incontrollable. Once it has set its eyes on you, there is just no way to escape it. The smoke first fills your lungs, and you're trapped because you can't breathe of think at all. And when you're defenseless and scared, the flames eat you alive without letting anything left you. Fire doesn't stop until it kills."

"You..."

"I understand it more than you think I do." She crouched next to him and pursued in a hushed, secretive voice. "I don't like to say it to other people, but I'm scared of fire, too. Terrified, even. It's a fear that never stopped pursuing me without me knowing why."

"It's a really scary thing," he confessed. "I feel like every single flame I see wants to burn me to a crisp. I hate being scared all the time."

"It's normal to be scared, Yukine-san. It must have been beyond traumatizing for you, to wake up in a sea of flames... You're so young." He spluttered as a blush rose to his face, to which Mayu only laughed heartily. He was called small enough without her, thank you very much.

Though, he never realized she had such a warm, motherly aura. It felt safe being with her. "Just think that it's going to be okay. You're a very strong boy, and Yato-san is at your sides. I know that he is never going to give up on you."

Her smile became jeering. "It's only a matter of if you can bear him. I know it's hard to sometimes."

Yukine let out a genuinely amused laugh, one that he hadn't heard in a long time. "He can't take care of himself if left alone and can be really annoying and obnoxious, but... he cares. He really cares. And it helps a lot to know that."

"I'm sure he does. I was on my way to visit him, would you want to come back to the hospital with me? Or would you rather stay outside a little bit?"

"I'm going to stay a little bit longer," he smiled. "But thank you for your concern."

He never thought talking with her could bring him so much. Mayu understood, he realized as she walked away. And somehow, it made him feel a little less alone.

* * *

"_Where were you_?"

"Y-Yato?"

"Tomone told me that she saw you alone outside," he said sharply. "What happened? How long were you out? Why were you all alone? Something could have happened to you. Why didn't you have your-"

"Will you stop mother-henning me, Yato?" he rolled his eyes. "I'm _okay_. I just wasn't feeling very good so I went out."

The god didn't look convinced by this and leaned forwards. "It's more than _just_ not feeling good. Your emotions are all over the place. What's wrong, Yukine?"

Yukine shifted from foot to foot, but there was just no way to escape Yato's piercing gaze.

There was a good side to staying with Yato. With time, he had picked up ways to downplay events or feeling, or to be vague enough not to cast too much suspicion on something. He couldn't tell Yato because despite everything, his father _had_ told him not to tell anyone, and he had disappointed him enough for a lifetime.

_Practice time_, he thought with irony.

"I just argued... with a new friend recently. I know you're going to say that it's okay, but we argued about something really important, and I... I didn't mean to, but I think I hurt him. He... H-He is gone now, and I don't know what to do... Yato, what should I do? I d-don't want to lose him..."

Yato blinked at him, honestly not having expected such a strong reaction. And it was rare the kid asked his guidance, to say the least. Since when had he decided that he would listen to a good-for-nothing god?

_"Well..._ if you did something really, really wrong, then you should try to go apologize to them. And if you really got angry with them, then add that you love them too. It should do the trick. Though it's hard for teenagers to say that, huh?"

"Yato, be serious," he sighed to his childish god, but there was still a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"Sorry, sorry. Well, I'd say that I'm sorry to have caused them pain and that I never meant to do that, and ask if they're okay to make up and forget about this. And if it doesn't work, it's because the person didn't care about you enough to mend your bond. You should give up on them."

Yes, it sounded like a pretty good idea, even if it came from Yato. Maybe they could try to talk, or go see a financial advisor with him to finally find a solution to his problems, or find him a stable job so that he wouldn't be bothered by money anymore. Maybe there _was_ another way to help him, even if he didn't go back to work.

He wiped his nose and put on a jacket. It wasn't the time to cry; it was time to _move._

"Hey, where do you think you're going without your crutches? Take them with you." sighed the god past the lump in his throat. His instinct was screaming him that it was _wrong,_ horribly wrong, and that he shouldn't let him alone.

Yukine could perfectly take care of himself, but taking a few precautions wouldn't hurt. "I'm sorry to be like this, but I want you home before six o'clock. And... don't forget to call me if something's wrong, okay? Anything. And stay safe."

"Yes I will. Thanks for the advice though, Yato." He flashed him a big grin, the last one Yato would see before a long, long moment. "I... I'm glad to have talked with you. I will go see him, and I will come back later to tell you what happened, promise!"

* * *

His heart was beating insanely fast in his chest as he stared at the varnished wooden door. He let his shoulders sag with a sigh and knocked on the door once, then twice.

No answer.

His heart tightened painfully at the possibility of opening the door and seeing his father dead in the middle of a living room. He had mentioned suicide several times in his messages, after all. Saying that he had too much problems, and that he was alone because of _him,_ and that where he was, suicide seemed to be the obvious solution.

He timidly turned the doorknob and slipped in the house - in _his_ house - without a sound. He let out a sigh of relief when no corpse came in sight, and curiosity won over him as he ventured more inside his own forgotten house, a hidden part of him burning with desire to see what it looked like.

His bedroom was surely there, somewhere. He imagined a big blue room with posters scotched on the wall, filled with toys and plushies from back when he was a little child. He imagined a kitchen where his mother or his father made him his favourite food for lunch and hugged him tight and wished him a good day at school. He imagined himself playing and learning tricks with to a small ball of black fluff with green eyes. He giggled at this thought.

But the more he ventured in that house, the more he felt... uneasy. It was nothing like his father had described. There was shining, grey ceramic was all over the floor, only covered by a red carpet under the sofa. There and there were precious-looking and varnished furniture, with jewellery and shining things on them. There was a table made of glass, comfortable chairs, and expensive paintings that he had seen in some books were hanged on the walls.

A particular message came to his mind.

_Because of your mother, I can't pay my rent. Bailiffs came earlier, and they took everything back home. I... I only had you now, and you left me. You left me alone... What did I do to you?_

He took a shining bracelet on a shelf and knelt down to gently scrub in to the floor. It left a long trail of golden dust, and his heart sank.

_"I can't believe you wasted you money on other useless charms, Yato!"_

_"Don't get mad, Yukine! This time it will work, I swear! There is no way that this lady would have scammed me! She looked so nice, and she promised that it was a great offer!"_

_"I believe she lied to you, Yato," sighed Hiyori. She gestured for them to follow her in the bathroom, where she knelt next and scrubbed the little golden cat on the shower's ceramic. "See this?" she pointed at a dark mark on the cat's paw. "It's paint. If it were real gold, it wouldn't have appeared."_

He put it back with a heavy heart, unable to think straight. It was quite obvious that he had lied, but _why?_

"Look at who's here. It's _you_," fulminated the older man, annoyance written all over his face. The 'you' was spat with so much venom that Yukine winced and recoiled. "Mister I-don't-want-to-work-because-I'm-scared. What the hell are you doing in my house without authorization?"

He immediately opened his mouth to answer, but whatever he wanted to answer was forgotten when he took in his father's unkempt appearance. He was slumped on the doorstep as if he couldn't stand upright properly, and when he pitched forwards Yukine ran so that he wouldn't fall. "Dad, are you okay?!"

His expression froze out of disgust at the smell emanating from him. It was a familiar smell, a pungent smell of... sake? He didn't want to believe he had pushed his father so far, but the empty bottles stacked in the corner of the room were undeniable evidence.

He tightened his grip on his drunken father's waist, responsability weighing heavily on his shoulders. "It's going to be okay, Dad. I'm going to help you."

He must be _really, really_ drunk. He knew he had to bring him to the hospital before he intoxicated himself, but the smell of alcohol had frozen his body for a reason that he couldn't grasp. Something scary enough to make his mind go blank and his throat all dry and his eyes unfocused and glassy.

"Dad..." he called after shaking his head. "Listen to me. I-I... I'm really sorry if you thought I didn't care or that I wanted to wanted to abandon you. It's not true, you... You're my _father._ You've always been with me, and you never stopped loving me and taking care of me."

"We can find help for you. And for Mom too, even after what she did to me... Just let me take you to the hospital, _please, _and everything will get better. I promise you... What's wrong?"

"Them again?" he growled, sounding more annoyed than angry. He paid no ear to Yukine's questions and stomped towards the dirty flat's entrance, the angry features on his face deepening as he recognized the couple's voices.

Silver shone in the corner of Yukine's vision, slightly hidden by the man's palm, and his heart sank. Yukine scrambled to grab his father's arm before drunkenness made him do something that he would regret forever. "D-Dad, are you _doing?!_ What are you going to do with that-"

"_I will put it right between your eyes if you don't shut up immediately_." He had whispered this sentence through tightly gritted teeth, so low that Yukine wasn't sure he had heard right. But panic and pure horror completely twisted Yukine's face when the blade backfired on him.

He... He wouldn't _hurt_ him, right?

He was wasting his time with this whining child. At this rate, the intruders would enter his home again, and he wasn't going to let that happen. He spared the door a quick glance when the doorknob went down and pointed a thick finger to his son. "You don't move."

Knife still in hand, he advanced carefully towards the couple to block their way as if _they_ were the enemy. "What the _hell_ you think you're doing, wanting to enter in my house?"

The man stepped back from him, holding his terrified wife's hand tight. A murderous man standing in their home is probably not what they had expected to see coming home from groceries.

"It's _our_ house," he affirmed with all the calm he could summon against this dangerous, drunk stranger. He thought his next sentence several times in his head before daring to say it. _"We_ live here, and you have no right being there. Maybe you made a mistake, and mistook your flat for ours?"

He knew he had said the wrong thing when something dark flickered on his face.

Yukine's father lunged forwards in a heartbeat with a pathetic cry, and the man barely had time to stop this stab wound to be fatal. Instead of plunging in his ribcage like it was intended to, the knife stabbed deep in the right of his stomach, and the man fell to the floor.

He shut the door just in time to muffle the woman's yell of horror. He growled like an angry bear when, as he turned, he saw his son's face. It was _white._ Barely keeping his food down, clenching his shirt with tiny fists as if he had been the one who'd been stabbed. Weak-kneed, he fell to the ground to growl and cry, saliva dripping down his lips.

"Dad, you..." Say that he was horrified by what he had just seen would be the understatement of the year. The woman outside was still yelling and screaming, but he didn't think she was as horrified as him. It couldn't be his father. It had to be someone fake.

He wouldn't ever murder someone...

"Dad.. Y-You're _horrible..."_

"Horrible?" he repeated, his voice slurred and high-pitched in disbelief. _"Who's_ the most horrible out of the both of us? If you had stopped me then I wouldn't have killed him. And you're not allowed to talk to me like that. You're my son. You hold no authority over me."

Alcool was getting to his head, and not just a little, if he was contradicting himself so much. Muffled crying and gasps broke through their dispute from outside, and it made him come back to his senses.

He snapped his phone out of his pocket, because everything was so wrong right now and he really, _really_ had to call Yato now before things got out of hand. Before... Before his father hurt him. Before he got killed too. Before-

_"Borderline!"_

The line of white energy clashed against his phone, sending it against the wall. There was an ugly fissure on it now, the screen broken and covered in tiny pieces of glass. But it wasn't at all why Yukine looked up to his father with new, horrified eyes.

Humans _couldn't_ create borderlines.

* * *

"Wake up, you lazy boy. The old man told me your were a... how did he call that? A _hafuri?_ Well, apparently you're rare. Though I can't for the life of me see what's rare or special about you, other gods are interested in you. They're coming to see you soon, so behave. Be obedient, because otherwise you'll regret it."

_One, two, three new names bloomed on his bruised skin, and his pride shattered._

_"Where _do you think you're going? Did I allow you to move? I think not. You're not even supposed to move. Stop crawling this instant, or- Oh, that's _it._ You're provoking me? _Fine."_

_He couldn't escape, and fearing when the next hit would be, his sanity was stolen._

"He is special, you see. He can't be killed. What, you don't believe me? Test, I swear it's the truth. I will give you a few hours, and if you can't prove me wrong, you pay."

_Locked up in a tiny room, humiliated and scared, his bones shattered._

"Don't make that face. Apparently you're too stubborn to stop and just shut up and obey, so I had to do this. You think I wanted her to die? It's all because you're not obeying. Who do you think you are? You're my son. You obey me. Under my roof, I'm the one who decides. Now go bury her in the garden before she decays."

_He looked at her peaceful, deathly face before dumping a shovel of dirt on it, and his heart broke._

"A neighbour came to- Hey, are you listening to me? A neighbour came to complain about your yells. Can't you even respect their night?! Here, we're going to establish a new rule. For you, speaking is _forbidden."_

_He couldn't say anything to anyone, and Yukine broke._


	7. Chapter 7

**I know, I know, this chapter's a little bit short, and unfortunately the next one will be even shorter... I'm sorry. I just arrived in Paris to study in a... College? University? I don't know the difference, I'm sorry XD But it's hard to work and adapt to a new rhythm of work. I will try my best to post the rest soon, I promise... All the people who read this mess deserve this, if they're interested. I love you all.**

**.**

**Aofery's review: You killed me and my sister when we read this! ****I love you XD We'll begin out group XDD**

**Killing Yukine's dad is, like, my biggest dream because you _cannot_ murder your own child. Just... NO. Never. It shouldn't _ever_ cross your mind. You don't, especially when you have a precious, adorable Yukine as a son and that he's barely fourteen. Seriously. At least Yato's taking care of him now and loves him, but...**

**Yeah, once a trash dad, _always_ a trash dad XD Honestly, I hate this guy. He sucks. And since we never saw fully his face, I keep freaking out each time I see an adult who's not Fujisaki because I think he's back to hurt my baby and I don't want him to suffer... T_T ****Things are bad enough with just Yato's creator, (it disgusts me to call him Dad) without him making things worse.**

**I never thought I would say that one day, but I pity Nora a little bit. Yesterday's chapter's last panel was... She looked so alone. She's been used and abandoned.**

**BUT I SWEAR IF SHE'S LYING AND JUST LYING TO EVERYONE I WILL RIP HER APART****.**

***gives 5 yen to Yato and crosses fingers, hoping that this fic will reach ten reviews...***

* * *

"Here," smiled the director, handing Yukine a small white envelope. He took it automatically and silently - something he'd been disciplined to do recently - and anyone would have been scared by the boy's lack of emotion. The adult's face was close to his, as usual, twisted by a sadistic smirk at the child's submission.

He knew the kid couldn't and wouldn't do anything to fight back. That's why he let his knuckles stroke his round, plump cheeks and allowed himself to trace the shape of Yukine's mouth on his lips and the name on his collarbone. Then, when he really couldn't hold himself back anymore, he leaned down to plant a strong, dominant kiss on his bruised lips.

And Yukine didn't react.

Rather than not reacting, it was more accurate to say that the boy hadn't felt it. The adult's breath on his face was fire and his lips were as hot as a summer sun, but he was so cold and numb that he couldn't feel the contact. Each time it happened, he watched with big, dull eyes the man's pleasured face, wondering why he couldn't feel that too. Why he couldn't feel that pleasure, or any kind of happiness, or _anything._

"I think it's all I owe you, right Yukine-chan?" he smiled once their lips had parted. "Fourteen hours made today, plus six during the night. You know you can always come back if we forgot some, right?"

He nodded before bowing, each vertebra emerging from under his skin as he did so, and turning his heels to him. He wanted to walk home tranquilly, but it was less walking and more dragging his strengthless body towards there, though.

He was literally invisible in this dark night, and it wasn't only because of his tattered black t-shirt and his stained, dirty olive coat that blended sadly well with the scenery. He couldn't even hear his own footsteps or hear his breathing or feel his heart which was condemning him to live for a moment more. Sometimes it made him wonder if he really existed, since even the moon seemed to refuse acknowledging his existence by not shining upon him and leave, at least, a shadow.

He was transparent, inexistant and insignificant to humans and gods and Ayakashi alike. He wondered, some nights, as he came home, if his body and soul and bruises were so unimportant that they couldn't and wouldn't ever be seen by anyone.

He'd been a shinki and even a hafuri, once, a painfully long time ago. But he had fallen low, from that position to a nora boy who was overlooked by unmoving, dead trees and the darkness of the night.

* * *

He climbed the stairs one by one, foot after foot, being neither in a hurry to come home or capable of going faster. The lost boy pushed the entrance door open. And as usual, his father welcomed him with a warm smile and bright, shining eyes and a tight embrace. "Yukine, I was worried you came home so late! How are you, son? Work wasn't too hard today, was it?"

"It was okay," he said in a distant and dead voice. He obiediently gave the envelope to him, and his father grinned and patted him on the head. Even the pride dripping from his voice - his _father's_ voice - didn't made him feel better. He wondered why. "You brought me _that_ much...? You're such a good little boy, Yukine. I'm proud of you. Always eager to help me out, even if it's hard and that you surely want to do something else."

Silence, as expected. He grinned; he was getting too good at this. "It has been a moment since you've last seen your friends, hasn't it? You talked a lot about that Yato back at the hospital. How about you go visit him a little? I will come and pick you up when your surprise's ready."

Yato... This name was definitely familiar. A smiling, scraped face with intringuing blue eyes appeared to smile gently at him a moment before disappearing like a mirage. He'd long thought it was a creation of his brain, but if his father mentioned him, then he _was_ existing. Strange. So he wasn't _that_ dumb and crazy? He was having a hard time believing it.

He chose to point out something else. "A surprise?"

"Yes. Something you're definitely going to _adore,_ but I can't tell you now what it is. You're not going to eat today? Then clear the table and dress properly. We have to see your friends."

Yukine barely felt the hand closing around his bone-thin wrist, guiding him gently out of the dirty flat. Dull colours and nameless persons' shadows passed around to him and next thing he knew, someone screamed. He flinched and winced, not only at the sharpness and sudenness of the sound, but also at what it meant. A scream was bad. _Bad._

"What have you done...?"

There was too much to register at once, and it was happening too quickly for the god. Yukine's torn, slightly bloodied clothes. His body that looked like it was solely made of bones with a little bit of white skin on it, flesh and muscles forgotten somewhere along the way. His gaunt, pale face. His chaffed lips that bruises had turned purple. His trembling like an earthquake was happening under his feet.

The huge, ink-black kanji on his face.

His father was quick to notice the increasing panic of the child at his side, but the god pulled him out of his reach faster than thought itself. He was cradled in loving arms and rocked back and forth. But his breathing was trapped in the few centimetres between Yato's shoulder and his own mouth, and the hot air bouncing back on his face was just scaring him more.

"It's okay, you're all okay now." and such were repeated to him in a way that was surely supposed to be comforting, but it felt absoltutely useless when he felt like was being beaten up and he was in pain _everywhere_ and he wasn't even sure he would survive whatever was happening.

He honestly thought he was going to die.

"-you _psycho?!"_

"I didn't do _anything_ to him," replied his father, oddly calm against the godly wrath. Yukine wasn't sure who his father was speaking with, and was way too tired to make the effort to understand. He clenched his fists tighter in Yato's jersey and pressed his forehead against his shoulder, his hands twitching in sync with his heartbeat. "Calm down a little bit. He did everything _willingly_ to help his father. You surely can't understand; I heard sympathy is a quality that you lack..."

"He looks horrible," breathed Yato, refusing to let the comment _\- truthful_ comment - hurt him. He stepped back from him and tried to look at his kid without grimacing too much at his welts or freaking out at his lifeless, traumatized eyes. "Yukine, are you okay? Hey, can you hear me? Kiddo? It's me. It's Yato. You're safe now. I won't let him hurt you again."

He didn't answer, and the god's eyes drifted towards his father automatically. He had guessed who was guilty, but he was more worried than furious now, and it was obvious in his voice. "W-Why won't he talk?"

"Because I ordered him not to, simply. He wouldn't dare disobey me or make me sad. He is _obedient,_ unlike you. Right, Yukine? What did I teach you about talking to strangers?"

"I-It's... _s__pea- speaking i-i-is forbid- forbidden," _he stuttered, shaking like a leaf despite Yato's embrace.

The adult cleared his throat and used a fake, honey-soft voice that sent shivers of disgust down the god's spine. It sounded so _wrong,_ so fake. "You're right, Yukine, my son. But it's okay, so stop trembling now. No one's been hurt this time, so you don't have to panic, okay? Come on, you're worrying your friend. Behave."

Yato's heart sank. What exactly did he mean by _this time?_

And like magic, the shinki's trembling as well as his tears and his panic attack came to a screeching stop. Yato felt something hopelessly broken inside him being put back together all of a sudden, in a flash, and the too strong movement made his head spin a second. Yukine's father quirked an eyebrow at him, amusement shining in his eyes as he got a new idea.

"Boy, _look_ at what you've done. Yukine, you've hurt your friend, haven't you? I've very disappointed..."

Yukine raised big, teary eyes to the god who looked equally heartbroken. A peak of horror slashed through the void in his heart. He had hurt someone, it meant that he would be punished and maybe even locked in the closet and he didn't, _didn't_ want that but it also meant something even worse, like what had happened to her happening again and he couldn't, he _wouldn't_ survive this pain again and it was better dying a hundred times than-

"Don't worry, I'm _joking!"_ He laughed heartily. "No need to get so riled up, I was just teasing you. It's okay, don't cry. Behave with your friends, okay? I'll have work for you soon. I'm leaving now."

Tears and anguish forgotten, Yukine dashed to hug his father with the last of his strength, leaving the god shocked at how much his kid's mind had been broken by this man.

"Please s-stay safe."

"Of course I will. Don't worry. There is no way I'm not safe if you're with me." He was gone in a flash of blue light, leaving his son to stare at where he'd just been with wide, undecipherable eyes.

"Yukine, what on earth happened to you?"

The surge of adrenaline passed, and the emotions that he was feeling acutely now were stabbing him like a thousand of swords plunged in his body. When exactly had he begun to be so _tired?_ He couldn't see properly and there was a static noise in his head and didn't think he could stay upright anymore, something that his body confirmed by sending him collapsing to the floor.

* * *

Hiyori moved out of the way when she saw Yato storm out of the room.

Surprise and confusion passed on her face, but when she parted her lips to call his name and ask what had happened, he had already teleported. His expression of ire would forever be carved in her mind, despite the fact that she'd seen him only a second or two.

"Iki-san!" called Kazuma when he stumbled upon her. He looked everywhere around her, eyes darting as if he was looking for someone near her. "I-I'm sorry to bother you, but have you seen-"

"He teleported just now," she mumbled, already having guessed the rest of his question. Kazuma's lips became pinched. "I see."

"What happened to him?" Then, more scared, "Is Yukine-kun okay?"

"Well, if you mean okay as in not dead yet, then yes he is," grumbled Daikoku as he appeared next to Kazuma. "We've finished checking him up just now, before the idiot ran away. There are a few things about his state I really don't want to tell you, but all you have to know is that he is very weak and won't wake up soon. Surely not this week."

Small tears wet her eyelashes. Was it that bad? "Yato wouldn't tell us anything about how he got all that. He showed up with Yukine unconscious in his arms and just yelled at us to hurry and heal him," continued Kazuma. "He sat there in silence at first, but he left like he was going to kill someone when he saw the other..."

"The? The what, Kazuma-san?"

"The other names," sighed Daikoku, looking exceptionnally tired and slightly disgusted. "We don't know what happened to him, but Yukine is a nora now. He's been named by three other gods, and his names are... There is a red one under his foot, a blue one on his shoulder and a big, black one right on his face. The one on his face is pretty noticeable, but to think that there has been others..."

"No way... Yukine-kun is... He... A nora? But..."

None of her thoughts seemed to connect right now, dread cutting the stream linking them. She felt herself being gathered up in Daikoku's arms where she continued to mumble bits of sentences uncomprehensively against his chest, her face slightly pale at the implications.

"It's going to be okay, Hiyori-chan."

No wonder Yato had made such a face earlier. His precious hafuri suddenly becoming a nora? Anyone lucky enough to have one would be horrified at the thought. The god was taking it hard, and it would be even harder for Yukine. The boy hated noras from the bottom of his heart, and she knew that he was proud to be a hafuri. It would do more than just shock him, or digust him. A lot more damage than...

She frowned.

Did Yukine _know_ that he was a nora?

* * *

_"Yato, stop right there!" _cried a feminine voice.

The god slowed down as he glanced behind him, a mere second that was more than enough for Bishamon to catch the fugitive's wrist. "Finally caught up with you. We searched for you all day, _idiot,"_ huffed Bishamon without letting him go.

He examined her. Judging from the bead of sweat rolling down her temple and the redness on her face, she looked like she'd been running for a moment now. Maybe she was worried. Or maybe Kazuma was really worried about him. It was more probable. "You never answered when we called you, Kazuma is worried sick."

"Yukine's father is a shinki now," mumbled the god absently as if it had something to do with anything. The goddess of war loosened her grip to look at him in confusion. "He is the one who ended his human life. He murdered him when he was fourteen years old, and ignored his beggings and cries when he asked not to be left alone in the dark. That's why he's so scared of it."

Bishamon gulped hard, and the god's eyes went to the silent stars above their heads. "I have zero idea what happened to him, and Amaterasu either, but he is a shinki now. He's been named by a god a moment ago. He explained him about being a shinki and the new rules of life and not being human anymore, but he refused to accept that he had been killed. He continued to live his bastard human life and steal and threaten and drink, and he ended up murdering his god because of his sins. It was an old man. I forgot his name."

"Honestly Bishamon, I have no clue about what he really knows. It freaks me out. All I know is that he remembered that Yukine was his son and decided to abuse him again in his free time. He could be anywhere doing anything right now, and..." He stopped when his throat was too tight to speak.

He had screwed up good. He always screwed up everything he interacted with, but this time it felt worse. He couldn't say why it felt so painful to see his kid like this, clingy and desperate and broken, but it was sickening him. So silent and dead and... Not smiling. Not happy. Not mocking.

Not Yukine.

He let out a broken laugh that cleared his throat enough to speak more. Only a little bit. He wasn't sure his heart could support talking more than a few sentences about this tragedy. "Yukine's a nora who's been named by four gods, me included."

"Then you should go talk to the three others," suggested Bishamon. "His father surely didn't bother explaining that he already belonged to someone. If you go speak to them they'll accept releasing him."

"He's been named by Benzaiten," he said simply. "Not only she's one of the Seven Gods of Fortune and Kofuku's friend, but she's also a nice goddess, from what I've heard. I can surely talk with her and convince her to release the kid. I'm not worried about how this one will go."

She frowned when she saw his brows furrow. "One of the two other gods is Agyo, a god of violence. Knowing him, I know we won't be able to talk about it calmly. I'll tell him to let Yukine be, and he'll refuse because he's a hafuri and he's rare. I know myself, and I know I will have no qualms or pity whatsoever when I kill him because he refused to listen. I think that's what scares me. I needn't having another death on my conscience..."

A comforting yet hesitant hand touched his shoulder. He shook his head from left to right, the movement disloging a few strands of his blue hair from the sides of his face to his eyes, hiding them from view. "And last but not least. The last god that named him was Yukine's father's god."

"His father's god?" She unintentionnally tightened her grip on his bony shoulder. "No... Yato, you don't mean that-"

"Yeah, he's been named by a minor god who's dead now. And you know what it means, Bishamon? It means that..." A pointy teeth dug in his lower lip as an image of Yukine's sunny smile appeared in his head. "I can't get rid of this mark. Yukine's going to be a nora forever."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello to you all! I hope you've been doing well. Man, this fic is going to be a LOT longer than what I first thought... This chapter isn't actually going to be short, ha ha XD**

**.**

**review from Aofery: Glad to see my writing makes you react so much! XD My little sister and I love your reviews, thanks for posting them. And as for this chapter, I think that if I had titled it, I would have called it :"Trash dads strike back." You will see why in this chapter XDD**

**Honestly, we should just get rid of the both of them.**

* * *

Done.

He'd hunted down all the gods to convince them to free the kid. One negociation went calmly, the other was... More heated, to say the least. There had been some arguing, violent moves and maybe some blood spilt, but now two of the three gods who had made his treasured regalia a nora had released him.

Two out of three. This wasn't going to solve the situation since he hadn't gotten rid of all these names, but it was really all he could do. It was his best, but it was not enough, as usual.

He looked up to the sky, the silhouette of a setting sun appearing at the horizon. He had to hurry coming home. Yukine was still unconscious and alone, and with the death threat that his father was lurking around, anything could happen. He had to get home to announce Yukine the news. Not good news, but news nonetheless. Maybe that would cheer him up a little bit.

"Wow, you look like hell, Yaboku. Did something happen to you?"

He rolled his eyes at his father's silhouette that was coming closer and closer to him. Not now. "It's none of your business, Father. Go away."

"Tch, how cold," he pouted with false hurt, wiping some sweat rolling down his temple. "First Hiyori-chan harasses me for something I didn't do, and now my own son's rejecting me? I just went to see how you were holding up. You know, with your kid and the fire and his father and all."

"Why would you..." He finally raised his head to frown at his creator, puzzled and uncertain. "Why wouldn't _I_ be okay? Yukine's the one who got hurt, not me. I mean... If you're talking about my wounds from the fire, then they're not that-"

"I wasn't talking about _that,_ Yaboku. I was talking about... You know? The situation in general. It must ring a bell or two or make something resonate in you, doesn't it?"

He advanced to gently take Yato's chin in his hand, powerful red eyes clashing against defeated blue ones as their eyes met. His smile widened a bit as he rubbed his thumb on a small, bleeding cut near the god's lower lip. "It must be painful to see so much of yourself reflected on this kid's face. But it's not that surprising, Yaboku. You're the same...

"You're both pathetic little boys who keep clinging to your abusers' legs, knowing that they will never love you back. It's normal for you, since you're a god, but I never thought you would let the same thing happen to your kid... Now he has the same eyes as you. The eyes of someone who knows that they've commited something they won't ever be capable of repairing.

"The eyes of someone _broken. Hopelessly sad._ He knows he won't ever be capable of doing anything to permanently satisfy his father, but he won't say no to him. He wouldn't dare, because deep down he still loves him and owes him his life. Honestly, I barely saw the guy and what he did..." He dropped his hand. "But I can already say that he _sucks._ He's going to stick to him like a leech and ask one insane favour after another to your kid and use him until there isn't anything to break.

"And you know what happens next, right? I don't think you forgot this... That girl. He is going to transform into what he truly is, under this human disguise. You will see the ugly beast lurking inside him and then you'll have no choice but to-"

"Stop," he rasped, head hung low and exhaustion clear in this silent plea. "Stop that, Father..."

He held his jersey tight above his heart, feeling something fragile tremble too much in his taste. It was true... It was true that he had no idea of what he was doing with this child, and that Yukine had been through things that Yato couldn't even imagine, if his father's words were anything to go by. His responsibility as a god suddenly weighted a ton on his shoulder, threatening to crush him alive. He couldn't mess up...

Yukine was only a shadow of himself, shaken, sadder than he had ever been and constantly on edge. Yato felt that he was a small step away from breaking, the smallest word could cause him to shatter entirely. Yato wasn't sure he could solve this plight with the both of them in one piece. He was scared that a part of Yukine, bigger than the one he had already lost with this mess, wouldn't be saved. It would be left to burn, only to be reduced to a mound of forgettable ashes.

He couldn't mess up. But at the same time, destroying things and making people unhappy seemed to be the only thing that he could do well.

"Sorry, sorry. I guess I exaggerated a little bit, huh? You're not _that_ alike. Unlike that kid's father, I _do_ love you, even if you don't think so. He really is a monster, huh? Hurting a kid this young..."

A hand that wasn't meant to be friendly patted his shoulder. "You should go to your friend's house and treat your wounds. It could get infected, yeah? And take care of that kid, Yaboku."

"If you don't take care of him, then no one will, and he will die." He took a big intake of breath and resumed his jogging like he hadn't even stopped to talk with the lonely god.

* * *

He couldn't exactly explain _why, _but he didn't go back to the shrine afterwards.

He _did_ walk the path to it and advanced to the entrance, but something was churning in his stomach and it was making him way too sick and uncomfortable to dare set foot in it. Something red flashed in the corner of his vision, something that looked too much like a flame in his taste, and he took a few cautious steps backwards before teleporting far, _far_ away.

Without a place to go and with his emotions and thoughts so tangled he couldn't think about anything straight, he roamed like he did so long ago, back when he was alone and abandoned by all. He guessed he would do that until he had put himself back together, until the fear and the anguish had mellowed out into something bearable. Something that didn't make him light-headed, that didn't give horrible cramps to his stomach.

He wished no one would see him. It was one of these days where he just didn't want to... He needed time and space alone, despite how much he whined sometimes that he didn't like when Yukine left to do something or when Hiyori went home. He had to figure things out before going back to them again.

If he didn't make things worse, that is.

A small cat came to nuzzle against the god's left boot and meowled once as it looked up, its plea for affection distracting the god momentarily from his bleak thoughts. Fondness melted some of the ice around the god's heart as he looked down at it, and as blue eyes met curious, small green ones.

A tired smile tugged the corner of his lips. "What do you want? I'm not your mother, you know."

This small ball of white fluff meowled once again, the wiggling of its tail showing its impatience. Yato sighed something faint, something like, "Trust me, you surely want to go ask affection from someone else..." but still crouched to take the small creature in his arms.

He pressed his thumbs against the kitten's pads and allowed it to lick at his fingertips with its small tongue, a gentle smile on his tired face. He stood up only to crash on a unoccupied bench a few metres away from where he was with a wince. Maybe he should have taken care of his injuries better than he did.

He allowed the oddly docile cat sprawl freely on his chest, hoping that the smell of blood wouldn't bother him too much. Maybe it needed something to stay on to bask in the sun, who knows? He placed his palm on it. Somehow, the small presence was soothing. Yukine had always liked cats, and the god was certain he would have adored this one.

He looked up to the sky above his head. It had been a good week that he'd been wandering aimlessly. The friends that knew him for the longest were used to him coming and leaving the house all the time, but it was still new to Yukine and Hiyori who were surely worried about him. He couldn't avoid this kid forever, anyway. They would need to talk about all this.

The sleeping cat didn't even feel the god placing him on the bench, and neither did it feel the golden coin placed on its head. Yato smiled. It was rare enough that a small cat granted a wish to a god of Calamity.

* * *

Nervousness flared in him again when he teleported in front of the shrine, a day later. He gulped and pushed the door open as silently as he could, first checking right and left if someone was there. Advancing on tiptoes and praying that the floor would _stop_ creaking so much, he tried his hardest not to make too much noise even if he felt that his heart was beating so fast that its drumming could be heard in the whole house.

After what felt like an eternity, a cool handrail welcomed his palm, and he let out a silent sigh. He'd managed to go that far. Now all he had to do would be to climb up the stairs without getting noticed by anyone, and it would do the trick. He would have to bear getting beaten up by Hiyori and Daikoku later, though. His kid would have joined them normally, but he was nowhere fine enough to perform such an activity.

He laughed silently. He'd even missed this kid's hits.

"Yato-chan?" He jumped a foot in the air at Kofuku's booming voice. The goddess' arms came to embrace him from behind, and her voice was trembling a little bit when she spoke again. "You finally came back! You're not hurt, are you?"

"No..." He awkwardly turned around to pat her shoulder and gently push her away. "I'm sorry to have left and not said anything to anyone. And... We can talk about it later if you want to, but right now I'm really need to speak with Yukine. Is he here? Upstairs, I mean. He should still be resting."

She twirled a strand of hair nervously after shaking her head from right to left. "I'm sorry, Yato-chan. Yukki left about an hour ago. He said that he didn't feel well and that he wanted to be outside a little bit. I've called him just to be sure and he said that everything was okay, but you should go find him now. He surely wants to speak too, and he's... unwell..."

Yato took in her disheveled hair, and the dark circles under his eyes. Judging from her appearance, his shinki was a lot more than just unwell. "He keeps having nightmares every night and asking us weird questions. We try our best to make him go back to sleep or console him when he cries, but we really can't help him like you do."

A humourless smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "You should hurry and find him before Daikoku comes home. He was furious at you."

Well, her words didn't let much room for arguing. Ready or not, this reunion was going to happen.

He nodded to her and began trawling through the streets and parks and whatever other places convalescent teenagers could want to go to. On the one hand, he had missed seeing him a little bit more alive and definitely needed to have a few words with him, namely with _saying things _and his relationship with his father.

But on the other hand, he didn't want to see his eyes on his kid, the eyes of someone disappointed by life and was afraid that he'd chicken out and teleport immediately if he saw them. He was making his own traumas pass before his kid and shinki. How pathetic.

The hands that were resting in his pockets clenched in tight fists that he supposed he would use soon, at the sight of a tuft of messy blonde hair a few metres away from him. It already wasn't going well, and he had left about twenty minutes ago. "What are _you_ doing here? Where is Yukine?"

"Good question. I-I'm searching him too," growled the man when he was done drinking the can in his hand. Yato didn't have to come closer to see that he was drunk, his face an odd mix of flush and white that showed he would pass out soon. "He's not where I put him last time. I'm sure... y-you _bastard_ hid him to heal his injuries, h-huh? Since... you took him away, he's got a _toooon_ of work to catch up with, and I-I need him now. It's _my_ son. Give him back."

A large, dried bloodstain was staining the man's palm up to his shoulder, entirely covering his sleeve, and Yato had no doubt about whose blood it was. His forearm went to choke the adult as it rammed against his windpipe, and, caught between the god and the fence, air was getting scarce. The empty can fell from the man's hand, a few metres away from the fight that was surely going to happen.

But despite the pain, the man managed a final smirk. "Funny s-s-seeing you so... worked up about s-someone you don't k-know. Yes, i-it's his blood. So w-what are you going to do to me then, Ô g-god of Fortune?"

For a moment, there was nothing. Then the slit of black in Yato's eyes shrunk, and his eyes became lighter, bluer. _Scarier._ "God of Fortune, you say? No, not for the likes of you. I'm _Yaboku,_ a god of Calamity, and nothing else. And if you think that I'm going to show you even the barest hint of clemency, you pathetic creature, you've got another thing coming."

Yaboku's cruel smile appeared on Yato's face, but Yato's voice still conversationally continued. "Well, I guess I should congratulate you for something you've accomplished. You've bestowed upon you the wrath of a god, child abuser. I'm not going to repeat myself, _stay away_ from this child, and do not show your ugly face to him again. Trust me, you should better obey me before something nefarious and irreversible happens to you.

"Disobeying a god is a reckless and foolish action. Don't you know what I, a thousand-years old god of Calamity, has seen and lived? Certainly more than you can conceive. Thorough the centuries, I've stolen, I've broken, I've lied... I've _killed._ Whether it was gods, shinki, or mere humans, I started killing before you were even born, and I surely wouldn't mind ending the second life that you never deserved.

"This is surely why you had that stupid, cocky smile on your face earlier... You really thought I wouldn't dare kill you, even after all you did? Hopefully you've rectified that mistake." He eyed him up and down, and his face twisted into a grimace of genuine disgust. "From your filthy skin down to the marrow in your pathetic bones, I can feel it. You're a _sinner _unable to repent, even after being given a second chance. And all your sins will only be cured and pardoned by Death."

Yato bent to add something more, but it was clear that the man had lost consciousness. He made a slight noise of disgust and moved swiftly to the left, leaving the body's face slam against the pavement.

He gripped his chest that felt oddly tight.

He didn't know if he was relieved or horrified at what he'd just said, but his heart's pounding tended for the latter. He never thought he would ever say all this, even less call himself Yaboku again. Yaboku was in the past, it wasn't _him_ anymore. It was only who his father wanted him to be, and he didn't like to think he had let him win and mess with his head one time more.

_"If you don't take care of him, then no one will, and he will die."_

"So it's true then..." Yato froze at the small voice. "It's _exactly_ like Dad said. You... I... Even after all I did, you're still Yaboku. I've n-never changed you, despite you repeating that I'm your guidepost and someone who makes you proud."

Yato turned around to see his kid, to see the dried blood coming down his temple and the tears dripping down his hidden eyes. Blood and tears. The two things Yato had wished he wouldn't ever see again on him. He was leaning heavily on a lamppost nearby, and Yato was afraid that without that he would have fallen.

"First there was Dad... He used me. He lied and said that he loved me and that I was the most precious thing to his eyes so that I w-would go to work without complaining about what was done to me. I wouldn't eat or sleep, but he never cared. And afterwards he would beat me until I lost consciousness and wrapped his hands around my throat when I screamed too loud so that I would shut up, drunk or not. I believed in him all this time, but all he did was... was lying to me..."

"Yukine-"

"And now," he laughed, but more tears fell down his eyes, and Yato winced in pain. "It's pathetic, really... Wait, who am I kidding? _I'm_ pathetic. I really believed I was making you a god of Fortune, that I was your guidepost... and that you really needed me. That I was someone special and irremplaceable to you. But you've been Yaboku all along, right? Yaboku, and nothing else. You're exactly like Dad... You lied to me _too._ Yato..." He started sobbing again, sadness like he'd never felt before bringing him to his knees. "This god that I loved... The o-one who held my hand when I had nightmares and laughed with me and ch-cheered me up whenever I was sad...

"_H-He a-actually nev-never existed, did he?!_" His broken voice seemed to echo in Yato's head, and before he knew it, he was on his knees too, shocked and horrified.

_What _was this child saying? It had to be a nightmare. It couldn't really be Yukine who was saying this. Where had this kid's self-confidence disappeared to? When had Yukine started seeing his father and Yato in the same light? As liars, as people in which he couldn't trust that who would hurt him and abandon him?

When had Yukine started thinking that?

He advanced on his knees, carefully not to make brusque movements, and his mumble of "Yukine... Please... D-Don't say that." fell in deaf ears. Yukine wasn't listening anymore... He was just sobbing and sobbing and sobing again, his head still bowed and his body shaking like a dying leaf.

"If I can't..." he moaned. "I can't help my own father. No matter what I do, it will never be enough for him to truly love me. And although I thought the contrary all that time, I, a guidepost, am actually unable of helping a god change and show him the way to become the best person he could be. If... If neither my own father nor a stranger is satisfied with me... If I can't help a human a-and neither a god... Then someone _tell_ me. _Where do I belong in this world?_"

"Yukine..." Yato's blood ran cold when he heard - and felt - Yukine's name get another crack. "It's not like that, I promise you."

The hand that he attempted to comfort his shinki with was violently slapped away, but it hurt nowhere as much as Yukine's scream. "Don't touch me, _Yaboku!"_

Yukine curled up on himself more, fragile and breakable, and all Yato could do was watching him with horror. "Don't lie to me, god of Calamity... I can't bear any more lies. It's _exactly_ like that. You would start asking me favours and using me like he did after this... this phase of pretending to love me to get my trust. You knew I wouldn't have obeyed you otherwise, right? You pretended t-to love me, and it couldn't be genuine... It could only be fake, because I... I'm just..."

_No, no, no, no,_ no.

"You could kill me anytime, couldn't you? You said it yourself... You've killed shinki before, and I wouldn't be any different from all those you've killed. I wouldn't be able to do anything to stop you. I'm a lot... weaker than you anyway..." Yato shook his head, out of breath and desperate, but Yukine didn't look. "Am I so bad? Am I such a bad child that no one needs me, after all? Is that why I've been... killed?"

Yukine's fingernails were turning into purple claws, and it was so, _so _wrong. "Why are you all... Why are you all trying to hurt me? To break my heart like that? How could you all manipulate me like this? What did I do wrong...?"

His voice took a pleading edge, and he looked at the barely conscious god sprawled on the ground. "Can't you just _tell_ me? _What_ did I do wrong?! Is it because I'm a nora that you stopped loving me like Dad did? Because I'm not useful? Because I'm the reason the fire happened? Because you got hurt and almost died saving me? Because I can't protect you all the time? Give me a reason, whatever it _is!"_

He'd shouted these last words, bright anger and thick hate wrapping each word. "It's because you're an unlovable child," said the father calmly, carefully choosing the words that would send his son shattering. Yukine turned his teary eyes towards his barely conscious father. "You're unlovable. A curse. These were the last things that have been said to you before you died."

"How do you know..."

"You're nothing but a disgracious son, a child that no one will ever love, clinging to people who can't love you back and polluting all of our views. Instead of wondering why the world doesn't love you, why don't you start putting yourself in question, hmm? It's not that no ones want to love you, it's that they _can't. _The best we can do is pretend to love you, like your god did. Like _I _did."

"Loving you is _impossible. _The only thing that you could do is disappear, or hide, and never show yourself again. It's honestly the best thing you can do... both for yourself and the world."

Yukine clenched his blighted hands into tiny fists and turned spiteful eyes to both his father and his god. The eyes of someone in pain, someone betrayed by the only persons he could trust on Earth. Exactly like the ones he had before the misogi, back when he was bitter and cold. And Yato was scared that Yukine would never go back the way he was before.

"I hate the both of you." were the last words he spat to his triumphant father and his broken god before disappearing from view.


	9. Chapter 9

**Yeah, yeah, I'm late, I know. I don't think people are still waiting for another chapter... **

**I've been dealing with serious issues recently, namely family problems and dark thoughts. No one should leave me alone in a room with a knife, ha ha XD I'm slowly getting better, but I promise I try to update as soon as I... can. Thanks for your comprehension :3**

**.**

**(review to Aofery): You're too sweet... I love you, and thank you for worrying for me. I'm mostly okay, for now... And yes, I do have father issues too. Though it's nowhere as bad as Yato and Yukine, it's also one of the reasons this wasn't posted sooner. But I appreciate your enthusiasm, and I'm going to do my best for you! **

**Kurenai will hold on :)**

* * *

He was all alone again, but then again, when hadn't he been?

The bitterness and frustration from before the misogi burned bright and strong in his chest, quick to dissipate that silly illusion of a family he had entertained all this time.

How foolish he had been, to place his unconditionnal trust in perfect strangers. How foolish he had been, to genuinely believe someone like _him_ could be granted a place to belong, could be allowed to stay safe and happy. This kind of stupid, naive actions was usually Yato's...

His throat tightened, exactly like someone had strangled him. _Yato._

His god's betrayal hurt more than any flesh wound he'd ever received from anyone. He would take the beatings and the punches and the insults a million times over acknowledging what was happening to him now was real. All his torments stemmed from a deep, ghastly incomprehension.

Yato was the same as him. Both of their fathers were traitors, beings that should _never_ have been blessed with the gift of life for all the sins they had commited. After all, what was the point of bringing someone to this world, only to hurt them and torment them and bring them to the point they wished they never existed?

And with how much they had both messed with his head, manipulating him and pulling strings and lying until his brain had been reduced to mush, Yukine _had_ come to this sad point. The point where he started doubting about everything and anything. Yato himself knew how much mind-games hurt, so why was he doing this? _Why?_

He laughed weakly, and a trickle of blood ran down his cracked lips.

He'd been acting so childishly, it had never been so painfully obvious before now. In what honour would the god spare him any pain when it was all Yukine had brought him? It's maybe because Yato knew _exactly_ what it felt like that he had decided to make him go through the same thing. He'd finally decided to give him the punishment he should have received from the very beginning, from the very first sting.

He was a bad child, and it was why he'd been murdered in the first place. And bad children deserved to be all alone.

With his fragile mind finally finding something close to a balance for the first time in too long, he let out a small breath and curled up on himself tighter. Though he immediately cried out in pain as all his wounds flared at the same time. The open ones, the scarred ones, the infected ones. The pain was so _much,_ he thought he would faint.

With how much blood he had lost and the tremendous quantities of pain that were inflicted on him daily, _why_ could he still feel anything? It wasn't making any sense. Nothing was making sense right now.

If he could be granted a last wish - who on earth was he kidding, he knew it wouldn't happen, he didn't deserve this - then... Then he would go back in time to apologize to his god for these last hateful, untrue words. Though maybe he went too far with Yato...

He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure of anything in the world anymore. Who was he; still worthy of being Yukine, Yato's one and only shinki? Or was he merely a disgraceful nora?

Even the simplest things were confusing him. He had seen too much these days, _way_ too much, and he wasn't sure he knew what love really meant. If it meant his father's love, or Yato's... Or the director's, whispered in the crook of his ear at night. Was he even worthy of any of these loves?

And once again, his father's words rang in his mind. _"If you were worthy of _anything_, then you wouldn't have been murdered. If your own father never loved you, then what makes you think this stranger does?"_

"F-Finally found you," rasped a familiar, though strained voice. There was a sound of wet coughing that raked the god's throat, and Yukine was very, very tempted to turn around. The god sounded like he was truly in pain, like someone was choking him.

But then cold sweat slithered down his bare back, and his body went on full alert mode.

Maybe his father had sent Yato here, to punish him to have tried to escape once again. Someone had to come to get him? He'd been found? Gods, what would happen to him this time? "Yukine, _c-calm down._ You... f-freaking out is killing me. I'm not e-even joking."

Yato had come all the way for him? Did that mean that he had he been forgiven for what he had said? But _why?_ He wasn't-

"You have n-nothing to... Y-Yukine, I'm _sorry._" The god used one of his blighted hands to smother his bloodied coughing. Curse these words that refused to pass his lips. It wasn't time to scream his pain or burst in tears; Yukine came first. Yukine _always_ came first. "_I'm_ the one who didn't protect you from all this. N-None of that should- _agh-_ sh-should ever have happened to you. I'm not angry at you or anything, but- _Please,_ come home."

Come... home? _What_ home? He couldn't have one, because he was a vile and disgusting child, unable to defend himself or protect anyone from anything.

He let out a wail and gripped his hair with enough strength to rip it; his head was seriously starting to _hurt._

Above the throbbing in his head, he faintly heard footsteps coming closer and closer from him. They were uneven and clumsy and heavy, terribly like his father's when he was drunk and searched his favourite victim in the house. But despite the similarity, he wasn't scared or anything; far from it. He couldn't explain it, but the sound had a soothing quality that made Yukine feel like there was nothing to fear anymore.

"I'm... sorry..." he wept, curling up on himself like a feeble animal. His head still hurt as much, and his unused voice was grating his swollen throat. He wondered what had happened, for his throat to feel so sore.

He never meant for these words to be out in the air like this, but they made him feel oddly... _light_. Words spilled out of his mouth before he even could think about them. "I'm sorry that- th-that I didn't tell you about my father before. I'm sorry that I lied to you and... I... I also..."

Yato dropped to his knees next to his kid, completely emptied of his breath. He had walked the metre that had been separating them, but he felt _exhausted_ as if he had ran it. It had been a while since he'd last been blighted so much. It could be dangerous. "Yukine, it's okay now."

A few tears slipped free from his hazel eyes, dragging some of the blood and dirt on Yukine's face to the ground with them. His hands went to his eyes to dry these stupid crybaby tears, and he dipped his head in a nod of comprehension.

He opened his mouth to call his master's name - maybe saying it out loud would _finally_ make him being saved happen for real - but when a hand was posed on his shoulder, only a terrified scream left his mouth.

Yato, apologies, safety, family... Everything was forgotten.

_"Don't worry so much... I will take care of everything. You just be a good boy, and not disobey adults. I wouldn't want to punish you again... I love you, you know that? Very, very much." _

Yato was almost sure he heard something shatter. _"Don't touch me, you pervert!"_

His shinki scrambled on panicked, swollen feet that soon sent him falling flat on his face on the ground. His arms immediately went to wrap around his stomach, and it wasn't soon before he threw up. Yato wasn't sure, but he thought he heard him choke something out. The same sentence, again and again, though it got weaker and weaker with time.

It wasn't Yato...

The person behind him _wasn't_ Yato.

_Of course _it wasn't Yato, what had he expected? That his god, who he had plainly said he hated last time he saw him, would stick by him and search him wherever he was to be sure he was safe and protect him to the bitter end? How stupid he was. He was _alone._

It wasn't his god next to that tree, it was that sorry excuse of a human being that he had seen too much for a lifetime. He should flee now, run _fast _and far_,_ because otherwise it would be bad, to say the least, but he didn't even have the strength to stand up. All he could do was tremble and beg, hoping that what would definitely come to him wouldn't.

_Pathetic._

_Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic._

But Yato wouldn't give up. He was nothing if not determined to save his kid. Nothing if not in a desperate need for this kid to be _okay_ and happy like he deserved.

Physical contact seemed to be out of question, judging from his reaction from earlier - he didn't even want to think about _what_ happened to him to make him react like that, it was just a touch - so he had only words to offer... He had to think about which ones would reach his hafuri.

Yato's lips parted, but anything he wanted to say was forgotten when his eyes rolled behind his head and his body dove to the ground. He managed to catch himself against the tree before he face-planted to the ground, cursing his trembling fingers and his stinging eyes.

All air had fled his lungs, and he was shaking like a leaf; he couldn't breathe, and even less _talk._

_"You only have each other, Yaboku. If you don't take care of each other, he will die."_

Each time he saw his shinki, he was in a worse state than the time before. The transformation into an Ayakashi was happening, slowly but surely. He already had these terribly familiar wings, and these claws... And with everything he had said last time, it was obvious.

Yukine was falling apart, piece by piece, and he knew that it was his last chance. Next time he would see this child, if he didn't save him _now,_ he would be dead. And this couldn't happen again.

"Yukine, listen to me... I haven't- I haven't been lying to you. Come home, _please_. We have to talk, and... and..."

He felt so weak, it took him a ridiculous moment to realize that his sweaty hand had slipped and that, losing his only crutch, he had fallen to the ground. He had neither felt the impact nor seen the ground was coming closer and closer. And just as the god thought he would pass out - _finally, _maybe something good would emerge from this day - a choked sob erupted from Yukine's throat, barely audible.

In echo of his shinki's sadness, or maybe his own, a lone tear rolled down his cheek.

That was _it._

He spat the mouthful of blood that had been sitting in his mouth all this time, and once his lungs were clear, resumed his walk towards the boy. He kept his eyes on Yukine, focused, shutting down all senses other than sight. They were all contradicting his objective.

_No_, his knees couldn't buckle under his weight at each step. _No_, he wasn't feeling light-headed at all. _No,_ his heart wasn't allowed to burst out of his ribcage. _No,_ his blood couldn't be entirely coughed up. And _neither_ did he feel like he was burning up yet freezing at the same time.

He had _never_ seen his kid like that. He, who had always made fun of the god by proposing to explain to him the concept of changing clothes, was _dirty._ He could not see a part of his body that was not covered in dirt or blood of sweat. He looked like an... abandoned child, and Yato knew that it was how he felt inside.

Yukine was at hand's reach now, mumbling something that was said too quickly to be understood with wide wet eyes and his face pressed against the ground. Given how badly he'd reacted before, physical contact was still out of question.

He only had words to give. He prayed it would be enough... "Yukine, I'm here. You're safe with me, I promise you."

"No," sobbed the child. The sight of this moaning mess of a shinki became fuzzier and fuzzier... The god wasn't sure what he was hearing or seeing anymore. "Help me, Yato... I don't want him to hurt me... Yato, please... _Yato..."_

* * *

Yato wasn't with Yukine anymore when he woke up.

He didn't know if it was because of this fact, or because of the searing pain in his chest, or because of the crushing feeling of _defeat_ and _helplessness_, but he was sobbing with full strength.

The room was dark, so hopefully, if someone entered, they wouldn't see his reddened nose and eyes, or the stain his tears had left on his pillow that were dampening his cheek. He sobbed, without any control on his tears or anything anymore.

He had failed again... He had failed his kid again.

Hiyori hadn't expected to find her god in such a state, upon opening the door. She couldn't really see him in the gloom, just the vague shape of his body, but the sound was more than enough. Just hearing her god cry like this made her want to cry too. "Yato..."

"He is dying," he sobbed, the words almost intelligible, drowned in all these tears. "Yukine's _dying..._"

_"N-No... Not n-now. I'm really tired... P-Please, leave me alone..._ _Please! Please, I-I'm_ begging_ you! Don't-"_

"P-People are... They're all..."

_"Someone- Anyone... Stop, stop,_ stop!_ Yato..._ Yato!"

It was useless; he only sobbed harder. He couldn't bring himself to say what he was seeing out loud. It wasn't things that were supposed to be happen to fourteen-years old kids, for Godness' sake. It wasn't something that ever had to happen to Yukine, and even less when his god was there to protect him.

It was all Yato's fault, as usual. How much could a single person mess things up like that?

"Yato," called hesitantly Bishamon. She'd come too? Odd. He found her voice oddly soft today, when he had heard it scream death threats and insults.

She padded next to the trembling god to place a gaunted hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me. We localized Yukine in Near Shore. He's not with his father right now, but he is alone. It's dangerous for him. We have to find him, and do a misogi."

Yukine was outside? _Now?_ But it was pitch-black outside, and he wasn't feeling fear about that. The sliver of blue eyes disappeared under his heavy eyelids that were dropping second after second. Hiyori called his name, but it was the goddess' rough shake that narrowly managed to steal him from unconsciousness.

_"Yato."_

"You can't..." he croaked. A drop of sweat fell from his forehead to the dirty pillow, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Why was he feeling so hot all of a sudden? "B-Bishamon, it's _not_ his fault I'm b-blighted. A m-misogi would kill him."

As if it was something she hadn't thought about. "But Yato, you're _dying_!" wept Hiyori. She knelt next to his god, hands fisted in her skirt. "You c-can't even move, and-"

"We'll make sure it's quick," cut Bishamon before the girl burst into sobs once again. They had a hard enough time making her stop last time. "I don't think he is going to oppose resistance if we ask him to say everything that happened, if it's for both of your sakes. I will keep guard with Kazuma and Daikoku, along with other shinki, so that his father doesn't interfere with the ceremony.

"Yato. It's _grave,_ what happened. We have to take serious measures with his father. He's a special shinki, and could cause a lot more havoc than he already did if left alone. We have to make him pay for what he has done, and go see Amaterasu so that she does take care of him, since his god is dead."

"You should let us in more, Yato," mumbled Hiyori. "Bishamon-sama will take care of Yukine-kun's father. You didn't even tell us that you left to find Yukine-kun on your own."

"Let you... in..." he repeated numbly, his head clearing a little bit.

Oh yeah. He'd forgotten that. Other people _did_ rely on other people rather than themselves all the time, wasn't that right? Bishamon slipped an arm around his waist and hoisted the god up, ignoring the blight that was spreading on her skin. Yato probably couldn't move on his own, and they really didn't have time.

Hiyori took his hand, too. He stared at her with these stupid red eyes of his. When she'd forget next, he hoped she would forget his tears too.

"Wait," he sniffled, breaking eye contact with her to wipe his eyes. "I-I need to take something before we go." Bishamon frowned at him, maybe wondering _what_ could be more important than his shinki right now, but helped the god limp towards the object of his attention.

"It's..." breathed Hiyori. Bishamon's lips softly closed up, and she tightened her grip. Maybe it would work, yes. "Let's go."

* * *

_"__I will be the one to decide what do you cut__," had said so confidently Yukine. "__I won't let you kill people ever again!__"_

Did he really have to keep that promise? Because if it depended only on the god, it could very, very quickly be broken.

Yukine was there, walking all alone in the darkness, with at least ten Ayakashi behind him or on him. Others kept repeating him that he was in a terrible shape, or dying, for those who dramatized all this, but Yukine was far from faring better.

Some Ayakashi were merely lapping up the trail of blood he left behind him with slow licks, but others were actively producing more. Digging their fangs or claws or anything that could pierce holes in his skin, without Yukine reacting to any of that.

His posture was perfect as he walked, not a flicker of pain touching what they could see of his face. All of them being too stunned or aghast, they didn't react when Yukine passed right next to them. Kofuku snapped out of her shock to call his name, but it didn't reach the child.

Yato wanted to cry once again. He was sure that this kid had wings, last time he saw him.

Daikoku cursed and dashed towards him, Mayu hot on his heels, deciding to focus first on the Ayakashi that were destroying his body and tearing his skin. But they were firmly holding him, and holes were ripped, and Daikoku feared that they had been there for many days.

A thick wad of bloodied bills was handed to him.

Drops of blood fell from Yukine's arm to splatter on the floor. At first it was unsettling, but then it became downright frightening. There was just too much blood pouring out of his body; _how_ was he still standing?

"He is hallucinating," breathed Hiyori, answering the silent question of who was he giving this to. He was covered in wounds, and it was obvious by the way he was walking more than one thing in his body was broken, though he was trying to hide it.

"You're here," snarled a deep voice, surprising all the deities gathered there. "Each time I leave you alone, something happens. How many _bones_ do I have to break you to make you stop misbehave, huh? I told you _not_ to talk with strangers!"

Yukine didn't bother trying to find words; he immediately burst in tears. The others were stunned to say the least. What kind of parent said that to their children?

Hiyori came to embrace whatever was left of the sobbing young boy, muffling his "I'm sorry" in her coat, and ready to physically shield him from this madman. Though she didn't think she would need to. It was obvious that if he took one more step towards Yukine, he would get killed on the spot.

Bishamon whipped Kazuha and Karuha up, and two gunshots later, the man was down with one hole in each of his knees. Yato blinked at her. "You're not coming any closer to him."

"Just try anything," threatened Daikoku. Though Yukine's father couldn't move now. Kazuma had slapped a restraint on him. "Now, Yato-chan! Now we have to do a misogi and it will be over for the both of you!"

Yato slipped out of Bishamon's hold and collapsed.

* * *

The misogi was a success, technically speaking. Success in the sense that the both of them had made through with their lives, and only that.

Yato had asked to be allowed one day with Yukine without anyone interrupting him. Day that he spent holding his kid tight, and letting the rest of his tears seep in his hair. He had enough of all this. _Enough_.

Now Yukine was huddled on his bed, hidden under the thin blanket he had pulled up. Yato leant forwards on his chair - Yukine had had a panic attack when he woke up with his god at his sides. "Yukine?" he called, thought he knew the boy wouldn't answer.

He let out a breath and continued in a low, soothing voice. "It's me; it's Yato. I wanted to tell you... Thank for having held on all this time. And giving me the opportunity to save you. And also to have told what happened to you during the misogi. You're very brave, and I'm proud of you."

He brought him closer, his voice trembling a little bit. "You had a lot happening to you these last two weeks, huh? Way too much. I just want you to say that... No one expects you back on your feet any time soon, you know.

"It's going to be hard, to heal from all this. I don't think that you will ever heal, actually. You won't be able to forget either, but... But I'm here for you. _Forever._ I'm here, and all I want is that you get better the soonest possible. There will be many times when you feel like you're not advancing, or that you won't ever be able to heal, and I will be here to encourage you and tell you how much progress you've made. We will get through this together."

Yukine was immobile, as usual. "You were scared, huh? Do you want me to take you in my arms? O-Or go get something?" The god didn't really wait, and ran his fingers in the familiar blonde hair of his kid. It smelt good, and definitely looked better clean. "Tell me if it's too much. It's not too much, is it? The contact, I mean. I'm not here to scare you."

He remembered all too clearly the words he had screamed when Yato had tried to pat his shoulder earlier. It was unequivocal.

"Yukine, I know you're awake. Talk to me, please. You can talk to me. It's okay, you know? To talk to others. No one should ever forbid you to talk..."

_"Don't make that face. Apparently you're too stubborn to stop and just shut up and obey, so I had to do this. You think I wanted her to die? It's all because you're not obeying. Who do you think you are? You're my son. You obey me. Under my roof, _I'm _the one who decides. Now go bury her in the garden before she decays."_

Nothing; not even a twitch of fingers. Yukine's chest went up and down, almost imperceptibly, and Yato knew that if he could have breathed more shallowly, he would have.

He dared to slip a hand under the blanket to intertwine his fingers with his shinki's. His hand felt... small. And oddly cold. "I'm with you. Like all messes, we're going to do this together. You're not ever going back there, and I'm _never_ going to abandon you. I will keep you safe-"

Yukine's voice was defeated when it rang next. He'd reached his breaking point. "Release me, please."


End file.
